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THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 




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THE 
GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

A WINTER VISIT TO 

THE REPUBLICS OF COLOMBIA, COSTA 

RICA, SPANISH HONDURAS, BELIZE 

AND THE SPANISH MAIN 

VIA BOSTON AND NEW ORLEANS 
WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY 

HENRY R. BLANEY 

AUTHOR OF "OLD BOSTON," "PHOTOGRAVURE," ETC. 



BOSTON 

LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS 

MCM 



49411 

"* \kl Cunts* Ktct^tD 
SEP 19 1900 

SECCHD COPY. 

Oetiwratfto 

0«0t« DIVISION, 

SEP 24 I90U 



r2/7/ 



Copyright, 1900, by The United Fruit Company. 



All rights reserved. 
The Golden Caribbean. 



Color Reproductions by Osgood Art Colortype Co. 
New York 



Norwood Press 

J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

The Golden Caribbean i 



CHAPTER II 
Republic of Colombia, S.A 7 

CHAPTER III 

Historical Notes . . . 13 

CHAPTER IV 
Cartagena 19 

CHAPTER V 
Colombia and the Colombians 27 

CHAPTER VI 

BOCAS DEL TORO, REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA, S.A. . . . 33 

CHAPTER VII 
Folk-lore of Colombia 4* 

CHAPTER VIII 
Costa Rica, C.A. . 4^ 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IX 

PAGE 

Banana Culture in Costa Rica ...... 68 

CHAPTER X 
El Salvador 73 

CHAPTER XI 
The Republic of Honduras 87 

CHAPTER XII 
The Republic of Guatemala ....... 99 

CHAPTER XIII 
British Honduras . . . 102 

CHAPTER XIV 
From New Orleans to Port Limon, Costa Rica' . . . 113 



LIST OF COLOR REPRODUCTIONS 



Cartagena .... 

Shaddock, Tangerine, Orange 
Market Cart. Cartagena . 
Cartagena Bird Seller 
Escape of the Buccaneers 
Boca Chica (Cartagena) 

Macaw 

Church of San Juan de Dios, Cartagena 

Hibiscus Grandiflora 

Main Street of Bocas • del Toro 

Indian Woman of Talamanca, Costa Rica 

Indian Woman and Children, Costa Rica 

In the Forest of Costa Rica 

Bridge in the Suburbs of Cartago . 

San Jose (Peon Market Cart) . 

The Plain of San Jose 

Antique Indian Costa Rican Pottery 

Fresh from the Plantation 

Ruins of Church at Orosl Costa Rica 



Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

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12 

18 
20 
26 

3° 
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40 
44 
48 
54 
56 
58 
62 
66 



72 
76 



LIST OF COLOR REPRODUCTIONS 



Indian Woman, Costa Rica 

A Plantation Laborer 

The Honduras Coast .... 

San Pedro Sula 

Central Park (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) 

Cargo Boats : 

Belize (Old Gate) .... 

Street in Belize (British Honduras) 

Maya Monolith (Belize) 

Belize (Washerwoman) 

Black Pine, Cherrimoyer, Avacado Pear, etc 







FACII 


IG PAGE 








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84 








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1 116 



THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 



CHAPTER I 
Tl?e Qold<?i? Qaribbeai}" 



"" ROM the deck of one of the " admirals " of the 
United Fruit Company's line of steamers, we bid 
good-by for a season to the wintry blasts of New 
England, with the snow and chilly east winds inherent to 
the capital of Massachusetts ; the steamer, heading for the 
open sea, soon drops the sandy shores of Cape Cod and 
the sparkling gleam of Highland Light far astern. We 
turn with a grateful sense of comfort to the warmth of the 
cosey receptiqn saloon of the steamer, leaving the deck to 
the hardy sailormen who are inured to changes in the 
weather. 

In two days we are in another clime ; all feeling of 
frost has disappeared, and the officers of the ship put on 
their white duck suits and a tropical smile, and talk enter- 
tainingly of mermaids and such things to the lady pas- 
sengers. 



2 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

You see (speaking confidentially, as if we were in the 
smoking room of the steamer with a chosen listener), you 
have done well to cast in your lot with us ; here you have 
all that heart could wish, for a touch on the electric button 
brings a steward from " the little room around the corner," 
who will see that the " Apollinaris " is correctly chilled, 
and other concomitants added. If my language is getting 
somewhat unusual and slightly mixed (along with the 
liquids), you may lay it all to old Noah Webster, who 
says, " A concomitant is a person or thing that accompanies 
another, or is collaterally connected." Eleven hundred and 
twenty miles of ocean has been swiftly left behind at a 
fourteen-mile gait ; the steamer passing Watling's Island 
Light during the night, twenty-four hours more must be given 
before we pass Bird Rocks and Castle Island, and greet, 
an hour after sunset, the fixed white light of Cape May si 
(Cuba), seventy-three miles from Port Antonio, Jamaica. 

The next morning at 9 a.m. the blue mountains of 
Jamaica gradually appear, at first as a cloud, then ravines 
,and cliffs paint delicately the distant sky, and the most 
beautiful of all the islands of the " Golden Caribbean " 
bursts grandly out, wreathed in mist. 

The valleys remain awhile clouded, but the projecting 
masses of cliff and slope swiftly change their delicate 
green to a brighter hue as the steamer approaches Port 



THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 3 

Antonio. The entrance to the harbor of Port Antonio is 
certainly as tropical in appearance as one could desire or 
dream of. The breeze from the shore wafts sweet scents 
of flowers to the ship, and the atmosphere is charged with 
the moisture of wet earth ; the heat increases as the 
steamer passes the lighthouse at Folly Point, and a stento- 
rian call from a megaphone at the Titchfield House, desir- 
ing information as to how cold it was in Boston, assures the 
voyager that frost is indeed a stranger here. The traveller 
who desires to proceed to Central and South America 
lands in Port Antonio and goes overland by train to 
Kingston, where he trans-ships for Cartagena and Port 
Limon. 

It would be well, however, to stop some time in Port 
Antonio (staying at the Titchfield House, which is owned 
and managed by the United Fruit Company), as the scen- 
ery about Port Antonio, especially on the " Golden Vale " 
road, is famous for its loveliness. 

It is hardly necessary to mention at this time the mani- 
fold beauties and remarkable sights witnessed in Jamaica, 
as it would require a separate volume to detail them. Full 
technical information for tourists and business men is given 
in a booklet published by the United Fruit Company, and 
there are numerous books written by English and American 
authors which cover the whole ground. 



4 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

Upon leaving Kingston, Jamaica, the steamer heads south, 
crossing the Caribbean Sea, the cool northeast trade winds 
pouring across the decks in an ever increasing deluge, 
the intense blue of this protected sea sparkling and seething 
under a tropical sun. The farther one goes south upon 
the Caribbean the more tender becomes the lovely sunset 
sky ; effects of color are noticed which one never sees else- 
where ; the vessel heels to the breeze and cleaves with a 
regular motion the broad expanse of sea. The thermometer 
marks an easy 8o°, and we lounge about in a dreamy 
ecstasy, getting acclimated with rapidity. After two days, 
a part of the Andean mountain system raise their majestic 
heads above the horizon, and the long pier at Sabanilla 
comes into sight, as the picturesque shore of South America 
lies before us. The Andean plateau, the main axis of the 
continent, extends along the entire western coast ; it sup- 
ports parallel ranges, which constitute the Andean system. 
The high peaks of one of these parallel ranges can be seen 
at sunrise from Sabanilla, the tops covered with snow ; but 
one has to look for them before sunrise, as the mountains 
disappear under the direct rays of the sun. 

Travellers land at the Great Pier (four thousand feet 
long), at the station Puerto Colombia, in Sabanilla Bay. 
The steamer stops here usually thirty-six hours or more, 
giving the tourist or business man time to take the Barran- 




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THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 5 

quilla Railway and visit the interesting town of Barranquilla, 
eighteen miles from the sea. The time taken in reaching 
the town by the railroad is one hour and fifteen minutes ; 
fare, $4.05 (first class) Colombian currency; the money 
exchange usually standing at about $5.00 paper for $1.00 
gold. Return tickets (good for two days), $4.80 paper. 
Only handbags will be allowed to pass with first-class 
passengers at time of disembarking. 

Barranquilla covers a large area of territory, and has a 
population of forty thousand. It is a very healthful town, 
the thermometer ranging from 85 to 95 normally; the 
lowest mark noticed was about 72 . The water supply is 
from the Magdalena River, and when filtered is excellent, 
and newcomers can drink it with safety. There are 
several good hotels in Barranquilla; prices range from 
$4.00, paper, to $6.00 per day. 

Barranquilla has three Catholic churches and a Prot- 
estant chapel under the Presbyterian Board of Missions. 
The steamship lines whose steamers touch at Sabanilla are 
the United Fruit Company, Royal Mail, French Line, 
Hamburg Line, Atlas Line, and others. Sabanilla is left 
behind during the night ; we proceed to Cartagena through 
pitchy darkness and a gloom of thunder-storm ; the steamer 
plunges forward into a sable curtain, as lightning flashes 
vividly and torrents of tropical rain are driven across the 



6 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

deck by the northeast trades. The Boca Chica at sunrise ! 
The narrow and deep entrance of the harbor of Cartagena 
is very interesting and absorbing in its characteristic charm 
and novelty, for the steamer makes a complete circle on 
its course from Sabanilla before it reaches the wharf. To 
the left, one sees a low-lying, green, white-edged shore, 
sparsely settled; and in a retired cove, cut off from all con- 
tact with humanity, a leper settlement of about twenty 
houses lies forgotten beneath the palms, and lines the white 
winding thread of beach with its wretched hovels. Ahead 
rises the hill of La Popa with its white-walled convent on 
the extreme end, forming a landmark seen for miles at sea, 
and covered with a luxuriant tropical vegetation. 

The city of Cartagena, reflected in the clear waters of 
the harbor, is seen (from the deck of the steamer as it 
reaches the wharf) spread out along the shore, a city full 
of color, with its red tiled roofs and multi-tinted balconies 
glowing in the beams of the rising sun. 




PORT ANTONIO. 




CHAPTER II 
I^epublk of Colombia, 5- /*■ 

l ARTAGENA is more Spanish than Spain itself. 
The quaint and rich architecture of the earliest 
period is here held in suspension, as a fly in amber. 
Whole streets blaze in tropical colors of blue, pink, and 
yellow; rare and curious balconies clog the sky line as one 
passes from square to square, the carving rather of a rough 
and cumbrous order, rarely, if ever, delicate. 

Certain streets, however, remind one of Malaga, others 
of Algiers or Tunis. The old city sleeps under a moist 
and torrid climate, slowly decaying, the energy of its citi- 
zens being expended in seeking the nearest refreshment 
saloon, and excitedly discussing the latest news of the 
money exchange. The experienced traveller, in sympathy 
with tropical conditions, lands in Cartagena eager for the 
renewal of old associations and sensations acquired in 
other countries about the equator, and they rush upon him 
with a vengeance. Every sensation is accentuated and 
enlarged abnormally ; ' the street cries are tropically Span- 
ish, negro, and Indian ; razorback pigs squeal on every 

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8 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

corner ; though the streets are badly paved, yet there are 
no bad smells, the copious rains that wash the streets at 
regular intervals are antiseptic, and the city is healthful 
for a foreigner of any nation. The citizens are civil and 
courteous, English being spoken on every hand, and the 
American and Englishman is welcomed with open arms, 
especially if the rate of exchange is advancing ! 

From the wharf of the Cartagena Terminal and Improve- 
ment Company Ld. (where the steamer lands the traveller) 
it is only a short ride of five minutes by rail to the city, 
the Cartagena-Magdalena Railway continuing for sixty- 
five miles to Calamar on the Magdalena River, both 
railway and terminal wharf being under the same Boston 
ownership and efficient management. An easy entrance 
to the country, through the custom-house, assisted by cour- 
teous employees, a mad ride through the multi-colored 
streets to the American Hotel, and then quiet and rest 
in the cool and spacious rooms and corridors, which the 
Spaniard, inured to tropical conditions, knows how to rear 
so well. The weather conditions to an unacclimatized 
Northerner are rather trying at first, though the humid 
heat is steady and regular — something -that one can count 
on from day to day ; then the evenings are delicious, and 
the early morning a revelation for freshness. 

The northeast trade winds blow regularly every day 




Market Cart— Cartagena. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA 9 

from ten o'clock until midnight, tempering the heat and 
making Cartagena a paradise for invalids. One of the 
most interesting and enjoyable jaunts out of Cartagena is 
the railroad journey of about four hours on the Cartagena- 
Magdalena Railway. The cars are comfortable, and the 
conductors, who speak English, arrange everything for 
the comfort of the passengers. The train glides smoothly 
along through the suburbs of Cartagena, mounting rapidly 
toward the higher hills surrounding the city ; from these 
terraces, several hundred feet above the sea level, occa- 
sional glimpses are seen of Cartagena, glistening in the 
sun, the yellow walls of the fortifications lying mellow 
against the deep blue sea. The vegetation along the track, 
wet with dew, sparkles in the early morning sunlight. At 
Santa Isabel (the first station on the road) broad savannas, 
affording fine grazing fields for sleek cattle, spread out and 
melt into blue haze in the distance. 

The railroad company own a large plantation here, and 
maintain fine water rights, which serve to supply Cartagena 
with water ; huge iron tanks, mounted on railway trucks, 
transport the water on the railway daily to the city. Cala- 
mar (the terminal of the railway on the Magdalena River) 
is a small town with very wide streets, the houses of one 
story and built of adobe. Travellers will find a small 
hotel in Calamar, managed by a Frenchman, where break- 



io THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

fast may be obtained. There is time enough after break- 
fast to walk about the town and inspect the Magdalena 
River, also the handsome steamers, of the Compania Flu- 
vial de Cartagena, before taking the return train to Car- 
tagena. The hotel gives a fair Spanish breakfast, and as an 
extra a good bottle of French claret. The brown flood of 
the noble Magdalena River rushes by Calamar to the sea, 
spreading out to over half a mile in 'width opposite the 
wharf. The banks are low, resembling the shores of the 
Mississippi River below New Orleans. On the return trip 
to the " Most noble and most loyal city," one notices at 
Turbaco how cool and fresh the air becomes. Turbaco is 
quite a health resort for the inhabitants of Cartagena ; 
many business men own summer houses, and arrange to 
have their families live there during a portion of the year. 

A carriage ride to La Papa, or a walk along the enor- 
mous walls (which surround Cartagena) in the cool of 
the evening, will give one a good idea of the city. Sea 
bathing is very enjoyable on the northern shore below the 
city wall, where a bathhouse, or shed, has been erected 
for the protection of bathers. It is perfectly safe to bathe 
here, and one should make it a point to visit the beach 
once a day to keep down the temperature of the body. 

There is something about Cartagena which causes one 
to depart reluctantly ; for after you have been at the hotel 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA 



ii 



for a few days an acquaintance is made with the other 
guests, who keep you informed as to the news and local 
gossip of the town. In two rows of rocking-chairs, facing 
each other in the wide entrance door leading to the patio, 
the guests of the hotel and their visiting friends sit by 
the hour in the evening, smoking and chatting, and one 
studies them with interest. There is the slim and dapper 
book-keeper of a local German commission house, who 




A TROPICA I. HOME. 



speaks English, Spanish, German, Russian, and Dutch; a 
travelling man who engages in the risky business of sell- 
ing dynamite throughout Colombia, and who rejoices in 
the unique name of Apple; a department manager of a 
certain railroad occasionally puts in his appearance and 



12 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

attempts to sell, broken-down boilers at high prices to 
exasperated chums ; the dynamite salesman declaims with 
fervor about backwoods travel to an admiring audience ; 
little black boys of the town dodge about the door of the 
hotel and beg for coin, and, when ignored, claim an easy- 
looking bachelor as "Papa," amid quizzing remarks from 
friends of the victim. 

They are interesting men to meet, — these fun-loving 
and genial members of the local foreign colony, — and in 
after years we will recall with enjoyment the many pleasant 
moments passed in their society. 



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CHAPTER III 

j-listorieal |fot<?5 



^HE discoverer of the coast of Cartagena was 
Rodrigo de Bastidas, a native of Seville, Spain, 
who started from Cadiz in the year 1500, accom- 
panied by the famous navigator Juan de la Casa, who 
directed his course toward the coasts of Venezuela, touching 
at Rio de Hacha and Santa Marta, exchanging the gold 
and pearls which he found, but acting with great prudence 
and moderation — rare qualities amongst the adventurers of 
those times. In 1501 he pursued his course, passing by 
the mouth of the river which he named Magdalena ; and 
then, continuing on, passed by Galera, Zamba, Cartagena, 
the islands of Baru, San Bernando, and Isla Furte. He 
entered the bay of Cispata and the river Sinu, the gulf 
of Darien, and ended at the Isthmus, where Columbus had 
been just before him on this voyage. Several years passed 
before any thoughts were entertained of making settle- 
ments in this vicinity, and it was not until 1508 that Alonzo 
de Ojeda (who had already visited these coasts with other 
famous navigators) came, accompanied by the pilot Juan 

13 



i 4 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

de la Casa and Diego Nicuesa, a rich merchant of the 
island of Sto. Domingo, to establish a colony. Ojeda con- 
tracted to construct four forts in the country under his 
jurisdiction, and to pay to the king of Spain one-fifth of 
the profits derived from those regions, with liberty to 
return to Spain and enjoy the fortune that he might 
acquire. 

The conquest and government of this territory were con- 
ferred by the king to Ojeda, who arrived at Calamar (now 
Cartagena) in 1509. He anchored off the island of Tierra 
Bomba, then called Codego. He suggested to the Indians 
that they submit to the king of Spain, and as these alleged 
for their refusal the violence and cruelty of previous adven- 
turers, he determined to reduce them by. force. He dis- 
embarked with his men and attacked the Indians, capturing 
sixty of them and burning eight who defended themselves 
in their dwellings ; he followed them up to the village of 
Turbaco, where the natives made a vigorous resistance, 
and finally routed him completely and killed his great 
friend and protector, Juan de la Casa. He was obliged to 
return to Calamar without a single soldier. Finding there 
his old enemy Diego de Nicuesa, who was on his way to 
Veraguas, he asked and obtained from him sufficient forces 
•to attack the natives of Turbaco, who, on this occasion, 
were vanquished and cruelly chastised for their valorous 



HISTORICAL NOTES 15 

conduct, the Spaniards sparing neither age nor sex. After 
searching among the smoking ruins for gold, of which 
they found a small quantity, they returned to their vessels 
and continued their voyage to the coast of Darien, where, 
after suffering many encounters with the tribes, Ojeda 
served under Hernan Cortes and went to the island of 
Sto. Domingo. 

The successor of Ojeda, in the conquest of this region, 
was Don Pedro de Heredia, a native of Madrid. He was 
appointed by Charles I. of Spain and V. of Austria, in 
January, 1533. He changed the Indian name of Calamar 
(which means crab) for that of Cartagena, which it still 
has, and which he gave on account of the resemblance 
which he found between the handsome bay before him and 
that of Cartagena in Spain. 

The founding of the city took place on the first of 
January, 1533. Cartagena is the third important city 
founded in America by the Spaniards. Heredia met with 
resistance from most of the tribes, especially those of Cana- 
pote, Tezca, and Turbaco, the latter burning their dwell- 
ings before submitting to the conqueror, even the women 
and children and their old men fighting with as much 
valor as the young braves, in just defence of their rights. 

The abundant fishery and its handsome and commodious 
harbor brought to the vicinity of Calamar several tribes, 



16 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

who lived in complete harmony with each other. Carex 
was the name of the chief that governed the adjacent 
island of Codego (now Tierra Bomba), and its principal 
village was situated at the entrance of Boca CJiica. On 
the opposite side of the bay were Cospique, Matarapa, and 
Cocon, and farther inland was Bohaire. With few excep- 
tions almost every village bore the name of its cacique, 
or chief, and often several small villages were subject to 
a single cacique to whom they must render tribute. 

Amongst the most important caciques at the time of 
the conquest were Camlayo, a great cacique of Mahates ; 
Carex, chief of Codego, Coco, and Caspique ; Malambo, 
cacique of Malambo ; Piohon, chief of Piojo, Canapote, and 
Tezca ; Morotoara, of Tubara ; Guaspates, of Zamba, and 
others. 

Heredia was informed concerning the condition of these 
neighboring tribes by an old Indian named Corinche, whom 
he had long used as a guide, and a faithful Indian girl 
named Catalina, who was his interpreter. He then deter- 
mined to send Corinche in a canoe to the Cacique Carex 
of Codego, to request him to submit to the king of Spain, 
offering him good treatment and friendship, and at the 
same time asking for provisions, of which he was in great 
need. 

Corinche faithfully fulfilled his mission and made every 



HISTORICAL NOTES 



17 



effort to persuade Carex cf the good intentions of the 
Spaniards ; but the haughty cacique answered that it was 
all a lie, that the strangers only came to rob them of their 
lands and their liberty, and that he was decided to fight 
until his last breath in defence of his possessions. 

Upon receiving this answer, Heredia embarked- at once 
with all his troops, and crossing the bay attacked Carex> 
who made all possible resistance, losing many of his tribe 




A STEAMER OF THE UNITED FRUIT COMPANY. 



and several important chiefs, whilst he fell a prisoner, and 
the Spaniards seized about $100,000 gold, in possession of 
the tribe. 

An expedition was sent to the coast, guided by the 
Cacique Caron, to make a treaty of peace with the Cacique 
Dulio, the most powerful of the neighboring chiefs, and 
the Spaniards were so successful that they returned with 



i8 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 



),ooo gold, and accompanied by other chiefs who came 
to make their offers of peace. 

Several other excursions were made to the nearest tribes, 
from whom the Spaniards derived not less than a million 
and a half ducats of gold, amongst which was a gold por- 
cupine, which weighed seventy-five pounds and was wor- 
shipped by the Indians of Canapote. 




CHAPTER IV 
Cartage 7a 

MERICANS are probably familiar with the stories 
^| of tne old voyagers of the conquest who followed 
so closely in the wake of Columbus, and know 
that it was Columbus himself who in September, 1502, 
discovered Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Colombian coast, 
and in October of the same year what is now Bocas del 
Toro. Later, he touched at other points on the coast. 
The small specimens of fine gold taken home by Colum- 
bus from this voyage were the beginning of that steady 
golden current which for many years filled the Spanish 
coffers, the getting of which gold, and the attendant cruel- 
ties and atrocities inflicted on the mild-mannered Indians, 
has been so graphically described by Kingsley in "West- 
ward Ho." In those clays of conquests, when freebooters 
and buccaneers were more plentiful than peaceful vessels 
on the Caribbean Sea, a safe storehouse for treasure and 
a rendezvous for the ships of Spain were a necessity, and 
the town of Cartagena was selected for this purpose 
and founded on the beautiful and land-locked bay of that 

19 



2 o THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

name about 1533. By the subsequent closing with a line 
of heavy boulders of the large entrance, Boca Grande, this 
last body of water, practically everywhere a safe anchorage 
for the boats of that day, could be approached by the nar- 
row channel of Boca Chica only, itself soon protected by 
two massive stone forts. With the natural conditions so^ 
favorable, and with no lack of gold nor of Indian slave labor, 
it is small wonder that the Spaniards built of Cartagena 
a city almost — but, as Sir Francis Drake proved later, not 
quite — impregnable. 

The marvel and the wonder is, however, — and it throws 
great credit on those early Spanish conquistadores, — that 
consumed as they were with thirst for gold and plunder, 
they should have built walls and forts which stand to-day, 
for the most part, as firm and good as when they were 
finally completed 300 years ago. 

To better appreciate the magnitude and costliness of the 
work undertaken and carried out for the defence of Carta- 
gena, you should study a plan of the city, showing the 
double walls, the various bastions, and the system of 
moats or canals protecting the city -by surprise from land 
attacks. 

The walls were begun toward the close of the sixteenth 
century, and were finished just before the close of the 
seventeenth, and cost $59,000,000 gold. 




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CARTAGENA , 21 

Before these defences were completed, however, and 
before the construction of the forts commanding Carta- 
gena both on the land and sea side, the building of the 
city itself had made noteworthy .progress. The Cathedral, 
the construction of which was begun in 1538, was finished 
about 50 years later, and to-day carries its three and a 
half centuries as lightly as many more recent but frailer 
structures carry a tenth of the period. The hard, unfor- 
giving lines of this old Catholic stronghold have a certain 
consistent relation to our impressions of the influences 
which were potent in the days when this symbol of Chris- 
tianity was first built by toiling slaves. The square tower, 
however, has a certain dignity when seen over the bright 
foreground of the Parque Bolivar, which compensates 
somewhat for the grim impression given by the contem- 
plation of one of the old windows of the Cathedral now 
filled by a grill constructed from one of the old torture 
beds of the Inquisition at Cartagena. 

To those of us who are heretics and now visit Cartagena 
there are compensations in the lessened greatness of the 
place, in the fact that the danger of reposing on the 
sharpened arrows of this grill, while glowing coals under- 
neath are fanned to greater heat, is no longer one of the 
local possibilities. The Inquisition Building itself, on one 
side of the Parque Bolivar, is now occupied as a private 



22 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

residence ; but its exterior looks little different from what 
it did in the old days. To-day it is used as a store for 
merchandise, and through this very door might have been 
heard the cries wrung from the victims of the Inquisi- 
tion by the crudest tortures. Over the outer entrance 
is still sharp and clear the graven arms of the Church of 
Rome, and in Colombia to-day that church is still a part 
of the state; but the inquisitors have given place to edu- 
cated priests and unselfish hospital sisters, working alike 
in the modernized cities and the Indian villages. 

The convent of Sto. Domingo was built in 1559, anc ^ 
is peculiarly interesting in design, and is still in a perfect 
state of preservation. The convent of the Franciscan 
Fathers, built in 1575, though in less perfect state, is 
picturesque and quaint as seen across the broad Plaza de 
la Independencia. 

In 1585 Philip II. granted to Cartagena its shield and 
arms, and a year later the title of " Most noble and most 
loyal city." The arms and title, however, were not suf- 
ficient to keep that brave old corsair admiral, Sir Francis 
Drake, from capturing the place in 1586. The entrance 
to the harbor through Boca Grande was not then made 
impossible, nor were the walls completed. Drake obtained 
full possession of the place, and demanded a ransom of 
),ooo in gold, but afterward accepted all that could 



CARTAGENA 23 

be gathered and offered him, and receipted on April 2, 
1586, for $107,000. He also took the bells from the con- 
vent of San Francisco, and then with his 19 vessels, more 
or less, sailed away. 

Before the end of the seventeenth century the Boca 
Grande was closed, and the forts at/ Boca Ckica built. 
The story, one of heroism and rorr/ance, connected with 
the defence of the fort (San Fernando) at Boca Ckica, 
during the attack by the French fleet in 1677, is one of 
most absorbing interest, and one of the many connected 
with the great days of the " Heroic City," as it was later 
called. At this time were also built the monastery of La 
Popa and the fort of San Felipe. 

That part of Cartagena's past which most directly con- 
cerns the New Englander is, however, the taking of the 
place in 1741 by a British fleet under Admiral Vernon. 
With this fleet, which consisted of 26 line-of-battle ships, 
29 frigates, and 64 other craft, were 3600 American 
troops, of which five companies were from Massachusetts. 
Cartagena was defended by 2000 men, one-half of whom 
were Spanish troops. Although the place was taken, the 
defence was so formidable that the British losses were 
very serious, and the victory a discouraging one. The 
fort of San Felipe, or San Lasaro as part of it is called, 
was never taken, although one of the bravest and bloodi- 



24 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

est battles in history was fought there. The British and 
Colonial troops, numbering 1200 men, attacked at night, 
and engaged the Spanish until well into the next day, 
and until 600 men (half of their number) lay dead at the 
foot of those fatal walls. 

Lawrence Washington, as a lieutenant, commanded a 
company under Lord Vernon in 1741 at the siege of 
Cartagena. 

This is a historical fact not generally known : that Law- 
rence Washington, brother of George Washington, first 
President of the United States, was a lieutenant com- 
manding a company of men under Lord Vernon, who 
besieged Cartagena in 1741. A picture of the siege of 
Cartagena hung on the walls at Mt. Vernon, also named 
after the above General Lord Vernon. There were 
600 Hessians never accounted for ; many were killed 
at the assault of the forts, others wandered away into 
the interior and were lost sight of, having joined the 
natives or starved to death. 

To briefly summarize the later history of Colombia, it 
obtained its freedom from Spain about 18 19, through the 
leadership of the great Bolivar, the country then compris- 
ing, under the name of the " Republic of Colombia," what 
is now Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. Cartagena was 
twice besieged during the wars of independence. Within 



CARTAGENA - 25 

a few years, however, both Venezuela and Ecuador were 
separated from the union and separately organized, 
Colombia v taking the name of the " Republic of New 
Granada." In 1861, after a civil war, it became the 
" United States of Colombia," and then, after another civil 
war in 1885, again became the "Republic of Colombia." 
Up to this last date insurrections were of almost yearly 
occurrence, and were a serious drawback to agricultural 
and trade developments. Since 1885, with the exception 
of a few months in 1894 and 1899 of revolutionary excite- 
ment, and insurrections of a guerilla nature, the country 
has enjoyed complete peace. 

From the period of its supremacy to its desolation, the 
fall of Cartagena kept pace with the falling of the other 
Spanish possessions, whose existence depended on plunder 
and theft ; but the peaceful agricultural development of the 
country has been building up for the " Most noble and 
most loyal city " an important position, justified by its 
commanding situation and its magnificent harbor. The 
rich products of the interior, — coffee, tobacco, chocolate, 
rubber, hides, etc., — shipped to all parts of the world, 
make its wharves busy and its warehouses and shops 
resonant with the hum of trade instead of the rattle of 
musketry and the grinding of steel. 

Where once a path, worn by the painful tramp of the 



26 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

treasure-laden, whip-driven Indians, connected Cartagena 
with the Magdalena River, a substantial American railway 
now carries goods and passengers in a few hours over the 
difficult three days' foot journey. 




Macaw 



K 



CHAPTER V 

Qolombia ar)d tl?<? QoIom,biai}s 

*> ' N 1893 there was completed and opened to public 

( service, under a 50-year contract with the government, 
a magnificent new wharf at the head of the bay, 
and large and commodious warehouses not excelled, and 
perhaps not equalled, for solidity and convenience of con- 
struction by any in the West Indies or on the Spanish 
Main. 

The bay of Cartagena is perfectly protected. Here 
ships may lie in absolute security with fires out and steam 
down, which cannot be said of any other port on the 
Atlantic coast of Colombia. 

The Cartagena-Magdalena Railway, after leaving Carta- 
gena, passes through the towns of Turbaco, Arjona, La 
Viuda, San Estanislao, Soplaviento, Hatoviejo, and Calamar 
(65 miles) to the river terminus. 

The town of Calamar is on the bank of the Magdalena 
River, 70 miles above its mouth, and is the starting-point 
for an interesting river voyage of from 500 to 600 miles 
into the interior on the rapid and comfortable boats of 

27 



28 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

the Compania Fluvial de Cartagena, a new steamboat 
company operating on the Magdalena River and its tribu- 
taries in connection with the Cartagena-Magdalena Rail- 
way Company. 

Steamers of from 50 to 200 tons burden have plied 
regularly since 1833 between Honda and Calamar. The 
Honda rapids can be surmounted by haulage, and steamers 
descend them in safety, though there is a fall of 20 feet 
in two miles. Above this point the channel is clear 
about halfway to the source. The country is among the 
most mountainous in the world. All communications are 
most difficult and expensive. All freight must be trans- 
ported by mule as soon as it leaves the rivers. Goods 
arrive at the head of navigation at Las Yegues, unloaded 
to storehouse ; then railroad to Arranca-Plumas, unloaded 
and carried to river bank by men ; ferry barge here 
across the Magdalena River, unloaded and carried up the 
steep river bank and again placed in the storehouse ; 
then by mule trains to Bogota about 80 miles ; time for 
freight about five to ten days. 

As a general rule, the country at the higher elevation is 
certainly of a healthy character, while the mean annual tem- 
perature at Bogota (8300 feet above the sea) is between 
62°-63° F. Bogota has a National Library with 40,000 
volumes, and a Museum of Curiosities and Antiquities. 



COLOMBIA AND THE COLOMBIANS 29 

The journey to Bogota is partly by the steamers of the 
Compania Fluvial de Cartagena on the Magdalena River, 
partly by railroad, and the balance by mule back, about 
nine days in all being necessary to reach the capital. 
From Honda, 600 miles above Calamar, there are three 
ridges or mountain passes to cross on mule back, two 
about 3000 feet each and one of 6000 feet or more. 

Bogota, the capital of the republic of Colombia, was 
founded by Gonzalo Jimenez de Ouesada, August 6, 1536, 
and was constituted a city by the Emperor Charles V. of 
Spain. 

The city contains about 120,000 inhabitants, also as an 
Archiepiscopal See it contains ,30 edifices dedicated to 
the Roman Catholic faith. 

In 1893, the population of Colombia was variously esti- 
mated at from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000. Near Bogota are 
the noted falls of Tequendama, with a height of 600 feet. 
The capital also boasts of an Astronomical Observatory, 
a National Theatre, and the San Juan de Dios Hos- 
pital. 

The city of Bogota, the capital of the republic, is said 
to contain 120,000 inhabitants; while that of Medellin, the 
second largest in Colombia and the capital of Antioquia, 
is credited with 50,000. Cartagena, Panama, and Bucara- 
mangar, the three cities next in importance, 20,000 inhabit- 



30 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

ants (these figures are only approximate). Among the 
educated Colombians the traits of their Spanish ancestors 
are strongly reproduced, this feature being doubtless the 
more marked in consequence of the isolation of the prin- 
cipal towns of the interior, and on account of the difficulty 
of transport and travel. 

From these causes contact with foreigners is extremely 
limited, and Spanish customs and habits retained to a 
greater degree than _ generally found to be the case in 
South America. Probably these circumstances also explain 
to some extent the fact that the Spanish spoken by Colom- 
bians has preserved a greater purity than is usually met 
with among the Spanish descendants in the New World. 
As a rule, the people are courteous and hospitable to their 
own people and strangers alike — a condition no doubt ren- 
dered necessary by the long journeys on mule back always 
required to be made by travellers through the departments 
of the interior. Of Indian blood there is, of course, a 
large admixture among the inhabitants, although the older 
families of Bogota show less of this strain than might be 
expected. On the plains, the bulk of the population is 
copper-colored. Roads for wagons are almost unknown. 
Some 7000 miles of telegraph lines have been erected 
in different parts of the republic, and Bogota is connected 
by telegraph with nearly all the important cities of the 




Church of San Juan de Dios — Cartagena. 



COLOMBIA AND THE COLOMBIANS 31 

various departments. In principal towns telephone systems 
have been established. 

Colombia is in touch with the rest of the world through 

o 

the cable of the Central and South American Cable Com- 
pany. Regular steamer communication is maintained with 
foreign countries by United States, British, German, Span- 
ish, Italian, and Chilian steamships. 

The mining industry of Colombia has shown little activity 
of recent years, and mining enterprise has been principally 
devoted to the extraction of gold and the search for 
emeralds. Silver mining has occupied public attention 
from time to time, but has not been an important factor 
in the situation during the last quarter of a century. Some 
idea of the natural mineral wealth of the republic may be 
formed from the values of the precious metals obtained dur- 
ing the 300 years of Spanish occupation, which were alleged 
to be worth a sum exceeding $300,000,000. From the 
department of Antioquia gold to the value of $200,000 is 
exported annually at the present time, and the total annua* 
output of all minerals has during the last few years averaged 
about $4,000,000. 

The copper industry is capable of great development if 
once the difficulty of transportation can be overcome. In 
July, 1899, an outburst of speculation occurred in the 
emerald market, and in the course of a few weeks gems 



32 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

to the value of 4,000,000 pesos changed hands, often at 
prices greater than the quotations given in foreign markets 
for similar stones. 

The emerald, which is green, is really a form of silicon 
in combination with aluminium and another very rare 
metal. The Hebrews believed that a serpent on fixing 
its eyes on an emerald became blind. 




CHAPTER VI 
Boeas d<?l 5oro, republic, of Colombia, 5. f\. 

EGROES from the West Indies squatted on the 
place now occupied by the town of Bocas del 
Toro about 1824. The Mosquito Indians then 
made trips on foot all the way from the Mosquito coast 
to points about midway from Bocas del Toro to Colon. 
No one seems to know just what the object of these trips 
were, but the negroes who settled here understood from 
the Indians that this was the territory of the Mosquito 
Indians. They therefore asked of the chief permission to 
form a colony or settlement here, which the chief gave 
them, and charged a canoe tax which they paid, and con- 
sidered themselves under his protection. A man named 
Nathaniel Humphries was recognized by the Mosquito 
king and by the settlers as the head of the colony. On 
August 6, 1836, a man named Galindo came from Costa 
Rica and made a stay of some little time; he was expect- 
ing soldiers from Costa Rica, who would take possession of 
the place in the name of the Republic of Costa Rica. To 
this idea the people seemed to have no objection, but Ga- 

33 



34 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

lindo, on hearing that an armed insurrection had broken 
out in Costa Rica, hurried back there. In December, 1836, 
a man named Paredes came to Bocas from somewhere in 
Colombia (the people thought from Bogota), with two small 
schooners, the Calamar and the Tolima. He saw each one of 
the inhabitants and told them that he had come with instruc- 
tions from the Colombian government to take possession 
of this place as Colombian territory, not by force, but with 
the consent of the people living here. He urged the peo- 
ple to plant fruit trees and make plantations, and promised 
them titles to their lands from the Colombian government. 

The people were peaceable and simple and agreed with 
all he said, and on December 8, 1836, the Colombian flag 
was raised at this place, and has been in full peaceable 
possession of Colombia ever since. 

Bocas del Toro holds and exercises jurisdiction, and has 
done so for many years, over the territory as far as the 
Sixaula River on the Atlantic coast and to the Gulf of 
Dulce on the Pacific. All American maps show the Costa 
Rica limit far to the eastward of this line, but every man 
on the right bank of the Sixaula River considers himself 
and is considered by Colombia a Colombian, and is un- 
questionably within the jurisdiction of Colombian laws, 
officials, and courts. Colombia has for many years main- 
tained a Commissary of Police on the right bank of the 



% 




4t 




?,• 



n 




Hibiscus Grandiflora. 



BOCAS DEL TORO 



35 



Sixaula, and Costa Rica has done the same thing on the 
left bank. Smugglers and fugitives from justice have con- 
sidered the river the dividing line between the two repub- 
lics, and the officials of both governments have done and 
do the same. 

In the year 1824, a few Jamaicans drifted down to this 
coast, and gradually a settlement of five or six families 
was made where Bocas del Toro now stands. The Repub- 
lic of Colombia annexed it in 1836, the central authority 
being in Panama. Bocas del Toro now (1900) numbers 
3000 inhabitants, mostly negroes from Jamaica ; there are 
also about 50 Chinamen, small shop-keepers for the most 
part. In the district there are about 13,000 people 
scattered about the islands, who purchase their supplies 
in Bocas del Toro. 

In Almirante Bay, opposite Bocas del Toro (where the 
steamers of the United Fruit Company anchor), there is 
30 feet of water. On Columbus Island (Bocas) there 
are many white-faced baboons which inhabit the jungle 
back of the town. 

The town of Bocas depends for its water supply upon 
rain-water, which is stored in large tanks, each house 
having its own reservoir. The money in Bocas del Toro 
consists of 50, 25, and 10 cent silver pieces ; there is no 
paper money, exchange being $2.50 for $1.00 gold. 



36 



THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 



The American Consular Agent is Mr. Hand ; British 
Vice-Consul Mr. F. Jackson. Captain Barnet, of the Eng- 
lish Navy, first explored the Chiriqui lagoon in 1839, and 
reported very favorably to the Admiralty. The plantations 
of the United Fruit Company (at the foot of the moun- 
tains bordering on the Chiriqui lagoon, and 25 miles 
"from Bocas) number some 2000 manzanas (a manzana is 
1.73 acres). A railroad eight miles in length passes 




BOCAS DEL TURO 



through the plantations, serving to carry the bananas to 
the shore, where they are loaded on scows and towed by 
naphtha launches (of which the United Fruit Company own 
a dozen) to Bocas del Toro. 



Chiriqui Plantation 
Chiriqui Plantation consists of 650 manzanas, all planted 
with bananas, the cutting of the bananas being done 



BOCAS DEL TORO 37 

twice a week. A short railroad with one engine here 
assists the laborers. 

Chiriquicito Plantations 

(Eureka and Guarumo) 
THE UNITED FRUIT COMPANY 

Chiriquicito Plantations cut some 30,000 bunches of 
bananas a month. Each subdivision of this plantation 
employs 300 laborers. There are two engines on this 
11-mile railroad of Chiriquicito. A few rubber trees are 
growing here. There is no cultivation between the rows 
of banana plants ; this is found unnecessary, the land at 
the present time being so very rich. Mr. Victor Georget, 
manager. 

EUREKA 

A new plantation, lately laid out, has not yet (January, 
1900) begun to bear. It consists of 1300 manzanas. 
One hundred laborers are told off for work at this spot. 
A short railroad with one engine assists the workmen 
here. Mr. Widgren, manager. 

GUARUMO 

This plantation has 500 manzanas of bananas and 
30 laborers. It is under the efficient management of 
Mr. Westmoreland. No railroad has been finished as yet. 



38 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

ROBALO 

Robalo Plantation, of 550 manzanas of bananas, is about 
20 miles from Bocas. Mr. Wyman has charge here. 

Monkey Key 
Monkey Key Plantation, lately started, supplies ground 
provisions to the other plantations of the United Fruit 
Company. This thriving plantation has some young cacao 
trees (chocolate) now started. Mr. Harland has control of 
the management. 

Rio Caucho 

Rio Caucho Plantation, near Monkey Key, about 16 
miles from Bocas, has a railroad of three and a half 
miles in length, and employs 40 laborers, who keep in 
condition and cut the fruit from 250 manzanas of 
bananas, under the management of Mr. Brown. There 
are also about five other plantations scattered through 
the lagoons about Bocas, all the property of the United 
Fruit Company. The United Fruit Company own 12 
naphtha launches and 75 lighters in Bocas del 
Toro, which serve to load the steamers which run to 
New Orleans and Mobile twice or three times a week. 
Two million bunches of bananas are exported from Bocas 
del Toro each year to New Orleans and Mobile by this- 
company. 



BOCAS DEL TORO 



39 



The plantation of Mr. Theo. Gambee (late of Norwalk, 
Ohio) is situated on the mainland nine miles from Bocas 
del Toro. The house faces the east about 300 feet above 
the sea. The plantation is near to the locality called 
"Shark's Hole"; there are about 80 manzanas of bananas 
under cultivation, and the writer remarked some 5000 




BOCAS DEL TORO 

pineapples growing luxuriantly. Mr. Gambee is a noted 
naturalist and collector of orchids and plants. Poco 
Monte, on an island 10 miles from Bocas, is a new plan- 
tation started in 1889 by the firm of Messrs. Byrd and 
Withroe. They have under cultivation 250 manzanas of 
bananas, also a number of rubber and cacao trees. A 



4 o THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

well-stocked general store is open, and the firm are in 
close touch with the town of Bocas by means of their 
launches and lighters. 

The situation of Poco Monte is ideal, and in a few 
years this valuable property will be an earthly paradise. 
Bocas del Toro offers especial inducements to planters 
with moderate capital. There are no large tracts of land 
left, but there are a few choice locations of about ioo 
to 200 acres still unclaimed. 




o 

OS 

O 

E- 



8 



2 



< 




CHAPTER VII 
Folklore of Colombia 

N indication of early visits of white men to Central 
^| and South America is found in a legend told 
among the Indians of Colombia, to the effect that 
Bohica, a bearded white man, appeared to the Moscas on the 
Bogota plains, and taught them farming, building, draining, 
and civil government before he retired to a hermitage for 
two thousand years. When the Spaniards invested Bogota, 
they guarded the roads, so as to cut off the chance of 
escape and intercept any approach of reinforcements. 
The Spanish men-at-arms soon had the city in their 
power, the natives having been awed by the thunder and 
slaughter caused by their guns into the belief that the 
Spaniards were invincible. The invaders, as they entered, 
found the people either attempting flight or extended along 
the streets in supplication ; but, paying little attention to 
them, save when it was necessary to beat back a threat- 
ening band, they pressed on toward the centre of the town, 
from which a great smoke was rising, for here, they knew, 
was the Temple, and here they hoped to find treasure. 

41 



42 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

The sound of a solemn chant arose within, and, as they 
Game clattering and shouting to the door, the people, in a 
frenzy at their intended sacrilege, made one last and vain 
attempt to stay them. 

Benalcazas and his men rushed in. Before the statue 
of a grim god a funeral pyre had been reared, and the 
flames were snapping over it. Gums and spices had 
been thrown upon the logs, and the smoke was choking in 
its fragrance. Vessels of gold had been heaped in a corner, 
ready to carry away and hide, and the eyes of the Spaniards 
fastened on them greedily ; but as the smoke blew aside the 
leader saw what made him pause. Three white men, not 
Spaniards, nor like them, stepped upon the fire, still chant- 
ing, their look turned skyward, their hands, raised high. 

Long beards flowed upon their breasts, and their rich 
gowns were heavy with gems and gold. Without look or 
word for the intruders, these men of a race unknown went 
calmly to their death. 

The Legend of El Dorado 

This legend relates to a Chibcha chief, who anointed his 
body with gum, and over which his priests twice a day blew 
gold-dust. In 1536 a. d., three expeditions of Spaniards, 
hearing of this fable, set out to conquer Colombia. El 



FOLK-LORE OF COLOMBIA 43 

Dorado ruled in Manoa, which may have been the prede- 
cessor of Bogota. 

The Foundation of a Fortune 
The old city of Medellin lay steeped in mist and wet, the 
tropical rains lashed and splashed and tinkled over the 
tiled roofs, and seemed to especially vent their fury on a worn 
old house, called in mild sarcasm by his neighbors "The 
Castle in Spain," of Ramon Julia y Vega B. Senorita Con- 
cepcion Vega, only daughter of Ramon Julia y Vega B, 
sought to while away the long afternoons of the rainy season. 
It was not a success ; so she declared, as she pulled out the 
long tail of Pietro " El Rosa," the old macaw, which had 
hung and circled on his perch for as many years as she 
herself possessed. It was well known that Senor Vega 
boasted of a clear, unmixed descent from one of Pizarro's 
lieutenants, with no addition of Indian blood, and that it 
was his dearest wish to have his daughter well and happily 
and richly married, and his old age provided for. All this, 
as you may say, was reasonable and just ; but the extreme 
poverty which had afflicted this fine old stock had con- 
tinued for generations, and Fortune, turning her rapid 
wheel, had only passed in the night, and left no message 
of hope. This good year of 18— had nearly come to 
a close ; the feast of La Asuncion was about to open ; 



44 i THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

the country groaned under the tax and extortionate demands 
of the Spanish governor-general, and finally, unable to with- 
stand the crushing cruelties of the mother country, the 
patriotic army of Bolivar rushed to arms, and, as this story 
opens, had all but wrenched the sceptre of power from 
unwilling, but nerveless, hands. 

The rare old senor, rich indeed in warm and generous 
instincts, irascible at times under the rubs that wayward 
Fortune gave him, mighty in his majesty and strength, was 
roaring out his orders in the patio of the house which was 
bordered by the stables, where were cared for the twelve 
mules which constituted the only source of income of Senor 
Vega. " Hombre, hombre, how often, O Manuelo, thou 
lazy peon," pursued Senor Vega, " have I .cautioned thee 
that also La Chiquita must be looked to ; already have we 
lost one ear from the Wise One by the unmitigated false 
and hardened wretches that crawl in the grass and imbed 
their claws in my most valuable property ; a blister has 
appeared on the near fore hock of this my pearl Bonita," 
sputtered the careful owner. "How, then, can I be prepared 
to carry on short notice the rice of Senor Domingo Martino, 
or the firewood for Senora Carmen from the Magdalena, 
so many miles away from this city of love and order?" 

"Merciful saints, hear the senor," audibly grumbled 
Manuelo. "Cannot the most illustrious and gentle-blooded 




Indian Woman of Talamanca — Costa Rica, 



FOLK-LORE OF COLOMBIA 45 

one remember that all care has been taken, have not these 
useful hands tenderly cared for those precious lives ? " All 
conversation was here ended by the illustrious twelve lifting 
up their voices at one and the same time, inquiring for their 
sugar-cane and corn. Upon this family signal the senor's 
daughter began laying the table for the evening repast, 
while their only servant girl soon brought the soup to 
the table. 

At this point, according to all rules for the winning 
of a pretty girl, a young man should now appear who would 
serenade, make love, and be refused by the obdurate father ; 
but Concepcion found young men scarce on account of the 
revolution. Driven to despair by lack of homage, she 
quarrelled with her father at dinner because he would not 
allow her to go to the next fiesta. So, upon the retiring 
to bed of Senor Vega, Concepcion (knowing that the Spanish 
troops held the pass in the mountains near by, the entrance 
to which opened out near the house) stole out late that 
night to the stables. She bound to the back of each mule 
all the broken pots and pans, sticks and stones, that were 
about the house, and drove the entire twelve toward the 
entrance of the pass. 

Concepcion was an ardent revolutionist, and hoped for 
the deliverance of her country from the bonds of Spain. 
The Spanish guard of nearly 200 men rolled sleepily 



46 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

about before their camp-fires, moodily considering their 
lack of entertainment for the evening ; and while they 
were trying to while the time away with games of chance 
and other innocent amusements, the night was slowly 
passing, the canon above them dark and gloomy and filled 
with the smoke of their fires and the mist from the rain- 
soaked ground, when suddenly a fearful din arose in the 
pass, the rolling sound of pounding hoofs and rattle of 
iron was borne toward the guard, carried down the rocky 
way by a fierce wind, ever increasing in a stupendous and 
ominous roar. A panic now seized the guard, and they 
ran toward the main camp, spreading consternation among 
their comrades. Gloriously charged the mule brigade, add- 
ing their brays of irritation and defiance to the clamor, their 
interest in the proceedings being enhanced by a' piece of 
cactus placed under the root of each one's tail by the 
sagacious sefiorita. 

After a while the soldiers recovered from their panic, 
discovered the cause of it, and seized the mutinous twelve; 
and, as several of their wagons had broken down, utilized 
the animals by packing a part of the treasure they were 
convoying upon the property of Sefior Vega. 

The next night the Spanish convoy was attacked by the 
revolutionists and cut to pieces ; but, as the attack was a 
confusing and sudden one, part of the convoy was separated 



FOLK-LORE OF COLOMBIA 47 

from the main force and abandoned by their guards ; the 
mules, still laden with their golden treasure, wandered away 
and were lost in the defiles of the mountains. 

Some days after, when all political troubles and disturb- 
ances had drifted away from this district, one quiet night 
the sorrowing owner of the immortal twelve heard snuffing 
and stamping outside his gate, and behold ! most wonderful ! 
the saints be praised ! at last the prodigal sons return 
minus eight of their number, but still heavily loaded with 
the rich treasure of the Spaniards, who had fled the country. 

To the rare intelligence of the tough and hardy mules, 
and the love displayed for their former home and owner, 
is ascribed the successful founding of one of the greatest 
and wealthiest families of the Colombia of to-day. 




CHAPTER VIII 
Qosta I^iea, Q. j\. 

NOTHER short sea voyage of a day and a half is 
before the traveller before he reaches Port Limon 
in Costa Rica, the next port of call in the circle 
of the "Golden Caribbean." As the land draws near, the 
early morning light reveals an extraordinary tropical appear- 
ance, the outlines of enormous trees draped with straggling 
vines shoot up above a lesser vegetation still shrouded in 
a blue mist, suggesting powder smoke. Farther back the 
hills rise ever higher and higher, and distant peaks meet 
these lower ranges and collect in long, curving outlines, 
disappearing in an undulating chain to the south. The 
chill of the night is still in the air, and you are surprised 
to find that Port Limon (though in the same latitude) 
is much cooler than Cartagena. 

Then, as the sun rises higher, the outlines of the town 
become sharper, the colors of the background of tropical 
hills and valleys change to more pronounced hues of 
brilliant green, and glisten, like the feathers on the breast 
of a humming-bird, in the rays of a dazzling sun. A 

48 




Indian Woman and Children — Costa Rica. 



COSTA RICA, C. A. 49 

beautiful park opposite the bank, decorated with over 40 
varieties of crotons and many willow trees, arrests the eye 
as we land and proceed to the hotel. 

The members of the Limon Improvement Committee 
are to be congratulated upon the taste displayed in the 
arrangement and massing of these multi-colored trees. The 
Central Hotel, on the main street of Port Limon, is large 
and clean, and the table d'hote is excellent. After a rest 
of a day or two at the hotel, with new anticipations of 
other sensations of tropical novelties, we walk leisurely to 
the railway station and engage our passage to San Jose, 
the capital of Costa Rica. We draw out of the station, 
amid the farewells of hosts of Jamaicans, who chatter and 
grin and husk their ivories with delight at the sight of 
unfamiliar faces, and rattle off through miles of plantations 
and swamp. Running parallel to the sea beach the railroad 
passes through little villages of Jamaica negroes placed 
at intervals along the line, each little house surrounded 
with a few well-chosen decorative trees and shrubs. Every 
owner has his own vine and fig tree ; and the family rocking- 
chair on each veranda is usually occupied by some girl or 
old woman, her head bound around with a scarlet turban. 
Toward noon the train pulls up at Siquirries for breakfast. 
A little primitive lunch room, providing a rather limited 
Spanish breakfast, is met with at this station. The food is 



5° 



THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 



distinctly not so good as the breakfast one gets on the 
down trip from San Jose ; but it is hoped that there will 
be an improvement' as soon as the estimable proprietress 
recovers from her unfortunate accident of last winter. 

The train proceeds through the dense tropical forest 
bordering on the Reventazon River, the air heavy with 
unfamiliar odors, the moist humid atmosphere redolent 




I 



REVENTAZON RIVER 



with the aromatic scent of trees and shrubs. Tremendous 
guava trees rear their heads high above the denser foliage, 
and spread out their immense crests, from which long, 
creeping vines hang down like cordage on a ship. 

The Reventazon River roars and plunges through a 
narrow canon, along the border of which the train creeps 
slowly, mounting, ever mounting, toward cooler valleys and 
a climate of perpetual June. As we approach Turialba the 



COSTA RICA, C. A. 51 

temperature gradually falls, and soon all is changed : 
the tropical foliage of papavv and banana gives place to 
the plantain and coffee plant, and a delicious breeze flows 
through the car fresh off the mountain sides. The hot belt 
is left behind, the air is crisp and free from malarial influ- 
ences ; and though it is in the month of December or 
January, and we are at the elevation of 3000 feet above 
the sea, the effect is that of June in Virginia. Here and 
there on the mountain side the hacienda of some coffee 
estate peeps out with its red-tiled roof, marking the site 
of a happy home. 

To some, the crossing of the great bridge high above 
the valley of the Reventazon is the greatest novelty on the 
railroad journey to San Jose ; to others the gradual change 
of the temperature ; then again a study of the changes 
of race from black to brown to white, marking the different 
points where the negro falls back before the increased 
energy of the dominant race, give to many people subjects 
for interesting comparisons and speculation. 

Costa Rica, the southernmost republic of Central Amer- 
ica, lies between 8° and n° 16' N. latitude, and 8i° 35' 
and 85 ° 40' W. longitude from Greenwich. Its area is 
about 23,000 square miles. Until 1540, Spain reserved for 
the Crown that part of the territory of Veragua lying west 
of the portion which had been granted to the heirs of 



52 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

Columbus, but in that year it was erected into a province 
called Costa Rica. Up to 1622, 15 governors succeeded 
Don Juan Vasquez de Coronado. 

In 1622, Costa Rica had but 50 Spanish families. Fifty- 
eight governors followed from 1563 to 1797. On Septem- 
ber 15, 1 82 1, Costa Rica proclaimed independence from 
Spain; in 1824, Costa Rica declared herself a republic,, 
and elected Juan Mora as president. 

Senor Don Rafael Iglesias (1894) is the present (1900). 
president of the republic. 



Port Limon 

Port Limon is the only port of entry of Costa Rica on 
the Caribbean Sea. The first house was built there in 1871. 
The harbor faces the south, and is formed by a little 
peninsula on which Limon is situated ; Limon has 4000- 
population. A small island, called Uvita, lies east at a 
distance of three-quarters of a mile from the town. Port 
Limon has a wooden pier, 930 feet long, but a fine iron 
pier is now ready to replace it. 

The Atlantic Railroad goes from Port Limon west to 
Alajuela, a distance of 117 miles 'from Limon. The train 
leaves for San Jose, from the bank in Limon, at 8.30 a.m., 
arriving at San Jose (103 miles) about 5 p.m. English 



COSTA RICA, C. A. 53 

is spoken on all the trains ; breakfast may be taken at 
Siquirries at 10.30 a.m. 

At Peralta (1400 feet) the traveller first notices the 
•change to a cooler temperature, and at the station of 
Turialba it is decidedly marked. 

A branch of this road runs from La Junta to Guapiles, 
on the plains of Santa Clara. Another branch goes from 
Limon to the Banana River. 

About 2.30 p.m. the train passes over the Pirriz bridge, 
■on the way to San Jose. This magnificent engineering work 
is 620 feet long and 220 feet above the bed of the river. 
The traveller should seek the left-hand windows. The 
eye plunges into the gorge of the Reventazon River as it 
winds to the sea, coffee plantations start into view across 
the gorge, and the river surges and flashes in the sun far 
below. As the train approaches Paraiso station, the vol- 
cano of Irazu (11,200 feet above the sea) can be seen on 
the right, rising in terraces to the clouds. The volcano 
•can be seen best from the train upon leaving San Jose 
(as Cartago is reached at 9 a.m.); at that time of the day 
the peak is free from clouds. The mountains of Costa 
Rica extend from the frontier of Colombia to within a 
few miles of Brito ; the northern central plateau does not 
show the regular conical form which usually characterizes 
a volcano. Thg general line of the southern slopes ascends 



54 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

in an imperceptible manner toward the summit, in a succes- 
sion of terraces. On the Irazu volcano eight such ter- 
races are observable from Cartago to the summit. The 
Irazu has various craters, formed successively, each con- 
tributing to the gradual rising of the mass. The Irazu 
volcano, which had eruptions in 1723, 1726, 1821, and 
1847, has an altitude (according to Niederlein) of 11,200 
feet, and from its summit both oceans are visible. 

The forests of Costa Rica abound in rich and valuable 
trees, among which are mahogany and cedar. Probably no 
equal area of the New World possesses such a diversity of 
floral forms. According to Professor Pittier, the flora of 
Costa Rica is not similar to Nicaragua. Many varieties of 
parrots enliven the forests. The jaguar, puma, ocelot, coy- 
ote, otter, wild boar, tapir, armadillo, etc., roam through the 
mountains, also a migratory bat of enormous size. The 
vampire bat at times invades the southeast coast of Costa 
Rica. 

Searching for the Art Treasures of Costa Rica 

Up a mountain trail, on the flanks of the Irazu vol- 
cano, lie countless Indian graves, arranged (in a hidden 
valley) in circles about a central point, marked by low, 
square stones and covered by bushes. The graves are 
reached by a horseback ride of about seven miles from 




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COSTA RICA, C. A. 55 

Cartago, rather a rough road and steep. About a two 
hours' ride brings one to a gate on the left, where the 
horses are tied ; a short walk across the field, and the 
excavations are reached. Piles of black loam on all sides, 
broken pottery, and human bones mark the location of 
one of Costa Rica's most interesting historical sites. 

Mr. R. Le Croix, of Cartago, has the concession from 
the government of Costa Rica to excavate here. Mr. 
Le Croix speaks English and French, and is a noted 
expert in this field of operations. His collections of rare 
pottery have been admired by all ; the Italian minister to 
Costa Rica, an amateur collector, and the Costa Rica gov- 
ernment and others purchase the largest part of his rarest 

discoveries. 

Cartago 

Cartago (until 1823), the former capital of Costa Rica, 
was founded in 1563 by Don Juan Vasquez de Coronado. 
The apparition of the Virgin of the Angels occurred 
August 2, 1643. The tradition relates that a little image 
was found on a rock from beneath which a spring gushed 
forth. A native woman found this image, which she took 
home with her. Returning next clay to the spring she 
found another image, which she took home to compare 
with the first. To her surprise the first had vanished ; 
the third day the second image had disappeared mysteri- 



S 6 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

ously. A priest was made acquainted with the facts, and 
he repaired with various citizens to the fountain where a 
third time the image was discovered. It was declared to 
be a miraculous manifestation of the Virgin of the Angels, 
and construed as a sign that a church be erected upon 
the spot, which was afterward done. 

Cartago is well worth visiting, especially on a Thursday 
or Sunday, as at that time the weekly market opens and 
there can be seen the country people flocking to the city 
to display their Sunday finery and to make their weekly 
purchases. The hotel of Madame Jokes is the best in the 
city; German and Spanish cooking. The hotel accom- 
modates about ten guests. For those visitors who desire 
to ascend the volcano of Irazu, it would be well to allow 
two or three days for the trip. Mf. R. Le Croix will act 
as guide and supply horses for any one wishing to attempt 

the ascent. 

San Jose, Costa Rica 

In the year 1738, a few people came together and 
formed a settlement under the name of " Boca del 
Monte," or San Jose. There were some few sugar plan- 
tations here at the time and twenty-one inhabitants. In 
175 1 there was a population of about 2330 souls. The 
civil government was under a lieutenant-governor and 
157 soldiers and a company of cavalry. 






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COSTA RICA, C. A. 57 

These are the earliest data to be had as to the found- 
ing of San Jose. The Court of Spain granted San Jose 
the title of "City" on October 16, 1813. 

Upon arriving at the railway station at San Jose, the 
tourist will find the English-speaking manager of the 
Imperial Hotel in waiting ; he can be found in the crowd 
by the kind assistance of Mr. Woodruff, the conductor of 
the train. The Imperial Hotel and the Hotel de France 
are both under the experienced management of Senor 
G. de Benedictis. It is a matter of taste as to which 
hotel you choose; and everything, from " Apollinaris " to 
quail on toast, can be found at the well-served table d'hdte. 

On December 29 and 30 occur the yearly fiesta. At 
this time the Costa Rica peon lets himself loose, confetti 
is thrown, and carnival reigns supreme ; all business 
ceases, and the town is wide open, with bull fights, cock 
fights, merry-go-rounds, foot-ball, etc. At the National 
Theatre the regular New Year's ball is given, with the 
president of the republic in attendance. The weather at 
this time is magnificent, the thermometer standing about 
65° to 70 F. The nights are cool; in the evening 
one requires a light overcoat. In fact, San Jose has a 
climate of perpetual spring. 

About the year 1890 some 30 Talamanca Indians 
visited San Jose. They were all (both men and women) 



58 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

naked, except a breech-cloth ; they came through by way 
of Alajuela. They were entertained by the citizens for a 
short time and returned home after being photographed. 

The Monkey God 
(A Legend of Costa Rica) 

Many years ago the Spanish conquerors, seeking gold 
in the country now forming Costa Rica, found an Indian 
chief who worshipped a golden image formed in shape of 
a monkey seated. The Spaniards desired to find where 
the gold came from which formed this image. The chief 
asked the Spaniards to worship the monkey god ; the 
explorers agreed to this, but insisted that they should be 
informed where the mine was situated from which this 
image was made. To this the chief agreed. While being 
taken to the mine by the chief the Spaniards attempted 
to steal the monkey god, which so enraged the Indian 
chief that the Spaniards were surrounded and killed. 

The Enchanted Lake 
(A Folk-lore Tale of Costa Rica) 

In the south of Costa Rica the native Costa Rican 
places the enchanted lake. Travelling through the moun- 
tains, the explorer comes toward evening to a defile in 
the mountains. Exhausted with fatigue, and seeking a 




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COSTA RICA, C. A. 59 

pleasant camp to rest for the night, he approaches a 
beautiful valley. Through the dusk of advancing night he 
discerns a lovely lake surrounded with flowers. Rushing 
forward, overjoyed at his discovery, suddenly terrific 
discharges of thunder occur, and the lake disappears, 
completely ingulfed in the darkness of a raging storm. 
At daybreak no lake is to be found, and the superstitious 
traveller is again reminded of the agencies at work of 
the ancient Aztec gods, who still retain control of the 
remote parts of Costa Rica. 

To thoroughly appreciate San Jose, one should take 
an electric car, carriage, or horseback ride about the 
suburbs of the city ; the delicious air of these high alti- 
tudes is invigorating and healthful. During January and 
February roses bloom' in the open air, and in the market 
fresh strawberries are for sale. 

The old market is well worth visiting any day, espe- 
cially on a Saturday, where every commodity suitable for 
the welfare of the Costa Rican peon is on sale. The 
fine showing of vegetables and dulce sugar is notable, and 
some excellent samples of native weaving in silken scarfs 
for the peasant women can be seen waving in the wind 
before the booths. 

The streets surrounding the market are constantly 
choked with the wagons of the farmers from near and 



60 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

distant towns, the patient oxen laboriously dragging about 
full-laden carts and wincing under the goad. The peon 
walks in front of the oxen (seldom on the side, as is 
done in the States), resting his goad on the yoke. Here 
and there you will observe little horses fastened to rings 
in the wall, a case hanging from the saddle-bow for an 
umbrella, and bound over the crupper a pair of saddle- 
bags. Planters from the other provinces about San ]os6 
ride these little ponies into town, purchase their supplies, 
stuff the packages into the plethoric saddle-bags, and are 
off at a gallop. In the centre of the market-house are 
the stalls of the smaller traders, some selling rope bridles 
and bags, others red pottery and cheap food cooked over 
a charcoal brazier. These people are under good disci- 
pline ; there is nothing to keep the most refined person 
from enjoying the amusing sight. The peon women have 
gowns of muslin or calico, and wear petticoats, rebozos, 
and very often Panama hats. The men of this class are 
mostly hard-working farmers, owners of small coffee plan- 
tations or oxen and ox-carts. 

Americans are popular in Costa Rica, and the native 
peon and city man will always put himself out to make 
the visitor have a good time. The salesmen do not 
importune you or get in the way, as they do in Tunis 
or Algiers, but with a certain kind of decent reserve 



COSTA RICA, C. A. 61 

await your favorable notice. They are used to the sight 
of passing strangers, and one is not stared at or made 
uncomfortable. This is a very noticeable trait in the 
Costa Rican, and cannot be too highly commended. 

The little popular theatre, patronized by the lower 
and middle class people of San Jose, is an interesting- 
place to visit of an evening. Seating about five hundred 
people, it assumes to give twice a week a "zarzula" 
and comic opera. The actors and actresses (all Span- 
ish) are usually recruited from some travelling company 
from Spain, who regularly visit San Jose on the circuit 
of the South and Central American republics. They do 
some very good work, and the Spanish national dances 
are given with spirit and truth. 

On Sunday, and other days during the week, the regi- 
mental band of the guard discourses sweet music in the 
principal parks. The citizens of San Jose, with their 
wives and daughters, usually attend these concerts in large 
numbers, walking along the shaded paths in an endless 
procession, and greeting their friends and acquaintances, 
the ladies wearing white dresses and the popular silk 
shawls thrown over the head, each shawl of a different 
color — scarlet, black, white, yellow, pink, light blue, 
orange, and purple seeming to be the favorite colors. 

Once a month, at the principal band stand in the park, 



62 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

the state lottery is drawn for the benefit of the local 
hospital. Often one hears of a morning the band crash 
out the beautiful national air, and on hunting up the 
sound you find the city guard of regular troops parading 
at guard mount in the central park. Sunday morning we 
visited the Cathedral, and heard the solemn and high mass 
of the Roman Catholic Church ; in the evening (when 
there is given a processional, which escorts the Host 
through the aisles of the Cathedral), the lighted candles 
carried by the devotees, the clouds of rising incense, 
blurring and joining in a mass of brilliant color the 
dresses of the kneeling women, recalled, in a measure, 
the majestic ceremonials seen some thirty years ago by 
the author at St. Peter's in Rome. 

The National Theatre, San Jose, Costa 
Rica, C. A. 

This noble building, erected in 1890- 1897, at the cost 
of $1,200,000 gold, outshines any other theatre in the 
Western hemisphere. For perfection of detail and wealth 
of decorations, there is not a building of any description 
except, possibly, the Boston Public Library and the Con- 
gressional Library in Washington, D. C, that can even 
approach it. This is claiming a great deal, but the 
unassailable preeminence of this building is admitted with- 




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COSTA RICA, C. A. 63 

out question as one ascends to the majestic foyer. Very 
few palaces in France or Italy can vie with the beautiful 
harmony and delicate gray, gold, and white marble effect 
displayed in the foyer of the theatre. The ceiling of the 
foyer is decorated by Signor Professor V. Bignami of 
Milan, Italy, with three designs, —the centre, Music; on 
each side, the Dance and Poetry. This room is lighted 
by 15 windows.; the length of the foyer is 22 metres 
long, 12 metres wide, and 9 metres high. 

Opening from the foyer is the private reception room 
of the president of the republic of Costa Rica, magnifi- 
cently decorated and kept in most perfect condition, with 
covers over the gold and velvet brocaded chairs. The 
ceiling of the president's room is decorated by Signor 
Ferrareo of Milan, Italy, the subject being Comedy. 

It is hardly necessary to state that the building is 
lighted throughout by electricity, two dynamos being held 
in readiness in an adjoining building. The stage is a 
marvel of perfection, the massive walls and iron girders 
are a surprise to the Northern eye. A large pipe organ, 
two small organs, and a piano are for use behind the cur- 
tain. Leaving the foyer reluctantly, one passes on to 
the boxes, and the president's box is in the centre, deco- 
rated and furnished in red brocaded silk velvet; over the 
seat of the president, upon the ceiling of the box, there 



64 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

is a fine fresco of Justice. On the ground floor the vesti- 
bule opens out on both sides from the entrance doors ; 
there are placed here the ladies' and gentlemen's res- 
taurants, one on the left, the other on the right, each 
decorated and gilded in a most fascinating manner, solid 
mahogany carving being in evidence on all sides. The 
marble statues of Comedy and Tragedy are placed on 
each side of the entrance to the stairs leading to the 
foyer. In the gentlemen's restaurant the ceiling is deco- 
rated by a fresco of Apollo and the Muses. The theatre 
seats iooo persons with 250 orchestra seats. Though 
the officials of the theatre report a seating capacity of 
1000, still there is much space that could be utilized to 
swell the audience to fully 2000 ; but good taste prevails 
here, as in all things, and the seats are well arranged 
with plenty of space for comfort. There are three 
galleries, each tier with a different set of decorations 
in white and gold. The general effect of the whole 
building is white and gold ; Italian marble is used in 
every case. The floor of the auditorium can be lifted 
to the level of the stage by hydraulic pressure ; 
this is often done, notably at the grand ball celebrating 
the anniversary of the independence of Costa Rica, which 
was held the 15th day of September some years ago. 
The ceiling of the auditorium, surrounding a central crys- 



COSTA RICA, C. A. 65 

tal cluster of electric lights, is decorated in fresco by 
Signor Fontana, an Italian artist. It was painted in 1897, 
and represents an allegory of Comedy, Tragedy, and 
Music. The subtile taste displayed in restraining from 
any too elaborate decoration of the auditorium is the key- 
note of the building, and cannot be too highly praised. 

The National Theatre is under the distinguished man- 
agement and expert direction of Signor Christoforo Moli- 
nari, to whose taste was referred much of the decision 
as to the final decoration of the building 

The National Museum 

The National Museum of San Jose has a magnificent 
collection of antiquities and examples of the fauna, flora, 
insects, molluscs, etc., of Costa Rica displayed in a build- 

y — 

ing hardly suitable to the collection or creditable to the 
state. 

Under the distinguished direction and management of 
Senor Don Juan F. Ferraz, the National Museum has 
taken on a new life, and the publications of the museum 
have been received and noted by all the national museums 
and societies the world over. The University of Penn- 
sylvania, U. S. A., has lately received from the National 
Museum of Costa Rica 93 pieces of pottery, stone idols, 
bows, spears, etc. 



66 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

The National Museum publishes (in Spanish) annually- 
many pamphlets and books upon the antiquities and fauna 
of Costa Rica, notably: "The Molluscs of Costa Rica," 
by Senor Don P. Biolley ; "The Flora of Costa Rica," 
by Senor Don Adolfe Tenduz, 1897; "The Fauna of 
Costa Rica," by C. F. Underwood, Esq., 1897; "The Antiq- 
uities of Costa Rica," by Senor Don Anastasio Alfaro, 
1896; and "The Insects of Costa Rica," by Senor Don 
J. Fid. Tristan, 1897. The reports of the director of the 
museum are published annually. 

On the ground floor of the National Museum will be 
found rare examples of the pottery of Costa Rica in splen- 
did preservation, largely excavated about the Irazu volcano, 
province of Cartago. In the corridor at the southern end 
of the building a full collection of sections of the valuable 
woods of Costa Rica is arranged with taste. On the walls 
of these rooms hang some well-executed portraits of the 
natives of Costa Rica. Continuing on to the end of the 
garden, in the rear of the museum, we come to a collection 
of wild animals and birds of Costa Rica, alive in their 
caces. Ascending a staircase on the right of the main 
entrance door, we find grouped on the upper floor all the 
beautiful specimens of the fauna of the country encased 
and mounted by the taxidermist of the museum, Mr. C. F. 
Underwood. The jaguar, coyote, iguana, etc., were originally 




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COSTA RICA, C. A. 67 

arranged by Mr. Underwood for the Guatemalan Exposi- 
tion in 1897. In the other rooms, on the ground floor, 
are placed huge monoliths and tables of stone found at 
El Guayabo, Turialba. 

The stone table is a fine specimen of the carving of the 
ancient inhabitants of Costa Rica; the edges are orna- 
mented by carved tiger heads arranged in groups of three, 
and it is 75 centimetres in diameter and 40 centimetres 
high. In cases under glass may be studied knives of 
stone, found in Santa Cruz in the province of Guanacaste. 
Some of these stone knives are made of jade, others 
of greenstone. There are some delicate-pointed stones, 
which look like obsidian and were probably used for 
engraving purposes. 

The director, Sefior Ferraz, will be glad to show to 
visitors the valuable and artistic collection of gold orna- 
ments discovered in the province of Cartago and elsewhere. 
The writer noted an ornament of gold representing an 
eagle with outstretched wings, the neck articulated ; this 
piece is by far the finest example of prehistoric Indian 
jewellery in the world. The collection is very large and 

complete. 

Adios, San Jose, hermosa ciudad, 
simpatica y bella ! Que Dios 
bendiga tu suerte y haga tu felicidad ! 




CHAPTER IX 
Batya^a Qultun? ir? Co$ta I^ica 

CCORDING to the report (1895) upon banana cul- 
ture in Costa Rica by the statistical department 
of Costa Rica, the exportation to the United States, 
through Port Limon, of green bananas (between the 
years 1886 and 1895) amounted to nearly 10,000,000 
bunches. In the year 1896, 1,692,102 bunches were ex- 
ported, or 56,000 tons. At the present time (1900), over 
3,000,000 bunches of bananas are exported each year 
from Port Limon alone to New Orleans and New York 
by the United Fruit Company. From Jamaica, in 1893- 
1894, there were exported 5,162,000 bunches of bananas 
by the predecessors of the United Fruit Company (now 
consolidated with them). The whole export trade in 
bananas from the coasts of Central and South America, 
Cuba, San Domingo, Hayti, and Jamaica is controlled by 
the United Fruit Company, with the company owning 
the majority of the banana plantations in these countries. 
The 36 steamers of the New Orleans division, and the 

68 



BANANA CULTURE IN COSTA RICA 69 

29 steamers of the northern division of this company, 
convey the fruit to the United States. 

The cultivation of bananas in Costa Rica was begun 
on the Atlantic coast in 1879. The first 360 bunches 
of bananas which were exported to the United States 
on February 7, 1880, by the steamer Earnholm from Port 
Limon to New York, proved that bananas would become 
a new source of wealth to the country, and the govern- 
ment promptly ceded liberal grants of land to those who 
were willing to develop the industry. 

In 1888 there were 61 banana plantations and a large 
number of smaller ones. 

There are 30 or more varieties of the banana, and being 
of the lily family there are many other plants resem- 
bling it. The plantain, or "platano," should not be con- 
founded with the banana ; although of more value than 
the banana, it has never been exported. Plantains 
serve as national bread, even where flour and tortillas 
are in use. This fruit will fatten hogs and make hens 
produce eggs, while the banana would only keep pigs 
and poultry from starving. The plantain resembles the 
banana somewhat in color and shape, but is much larger ; 
the plant also is very similar. The plantain is not eaten 
raw like the banana, but is always cooked. 

A regular banana steamer, of 1000 tons dead weight 



70 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

capacity, will carry anywhere from 13,000 to 19,000 bunches 
of bananas. The bananas are assorted into three classes. 
The No. 1 bunch counts from 9 hands upward, each hand 
counts from 15 to 20 fingers, or separate fruits, making 
a No. 1 bunch count about 175 to 300 bananas. The 
bananas are loaded on the steamers, — usually at night, 
though the hour of arrival of the steamer usually settles 
the matter, — the bunches being taken from the cars on 
the wharf and placed on a steam loader, which has an 
endless chain covered with canvas. The loading is done 
very quickly, a checker and assistant on the wharf noting 
the passing bunches in groups of ten. The steam neces- 
sary for running the steam loaders (of which there are two) 
is supplied by each steamer from its own boiler. 

The plantations of the United Fruit Company are 
located near the railroad lines running to Guapiles, Banana 
River, and Zent River, thus saving labor and expense 
for transportation and too much handling of the fruit. 
The lands chosen for the production of the banana are 
those that contain extensive alluvial deposits, and rich 
in decomposed vegetable matter; but the best lands are 
those on the margins of the rivers, or river bottom 
lands which have been formed from the rich silt brought 
down by the floods. The plantations are inundated two 
or three times a year from the overflow of the rivers,. 



BANANA CULTURE IN COSTA RICA 



7i 



which deposit five or six inches of new silt, and the earth 
is therefore continually fertilized. These lands have a 
gravel foundation, and are thus well drained and acceptable 
for the cultivation of the banana. 




A BANANA PLANTATION 



The trees, or, strictly speaking, plants, are planted from 
20 to 30 feet apart, in the form of squares when 20 feet, 
and when 30 feet the rows are 15 feet apart. 

It is generally at the end of nine months that the 
plants mature, and after that time the fruit can be gath- 
ered every week in the year ; but a new proportion of 
virgin land must be brought under cultivation to keep 
up to the average the regular production of fruit. The 



72 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

weight of a No. i bunch of bananas from Banana River 
or Bocas del Toro is sometimes over ioo pounds. The 
average weight is about 55 pounds. A horse will (ac- 
cording to ' weight) carry on each trip from four to six 
bunches. 




CHAPTER X 

El Salvador 

T the head of the "Old Line " of the Costa Rica rail- 
road, which has been built for 20 years, one leaves 
the railroad station at Guapiles and approaches the 
hacienda of El Salvador (property of the United Fruit 
Company), through a beautiful avenue of royal palms and 
cocoanut trees, enriched with the scarlet leaves of 
crotons, and shaded by orange and lemon trees. From 
the piazza of the house an uninterrupted view of broad 
pastures opens out toward the north, the distant hills 
lost in purple mist. The United Fruit Company employ a 
first-class butter-maker at this pen, as it would be called 
in Jamaica. The writer noticed the enormous quantity of 
manure going to waste. Of course the land is exceed- 
ingly rich, needing no manure to give good results ; but 
there are many uses that this rich fertilizer can be put 
to. A practical market gardener would see unlimited 
profit and opportunity in Costa Rican markets for high- 
class vegetables, the gardens being enriched with refuse 
bananas rejected at the track benches and added to by 

73 



74 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

the manure of the stables. Lettuce, beets, melons, rad- 
ishes, cucumbers, etc., would grow luxuriantly here. The 
most of these vegetables, with few exceptions, at present 
are of an inferior quality in local markets. 

El Salvador is a plantation of 3000 acres (1800 man- 
zanas), with 100 manzanas given over to the cultivation 




GRAZING IN THE TROPICS 



of bananas by 26 laborers and ploughmen. The planta- 
tion holds 3000 head of cattle, in three divisions. 

The semi-annual stock taking, or rather the counting, 
sorting, and inspection of the bulls, cows, steers, calves, 
and horse kind of the farm, had just commenced at El 
Salvador upon the arrival of the writer. Under the 
superintendence of Mr. Thomas Kissock, the manager, 
the three different herds, each in turn, were driven 
through various gates, by three expert Costa Rican cow- 



EL SALVADOR 75 

boys toward the principal pen, the bulls bellowing and 
the cows lowing in defence of their young sucking calves. 
The cowboys dashed recklessly, but with fine precision, 
about the broad fields, calling, cursing, and expostulating 
with backward cow or stubborn heifer. The horses the 
cowboys rode were under splendid training and discipline, 
inclining here and there with marvellous swiftness and 
sure-footedness over the broken ground, fording brooks 
in a burst of spray, and spattering the mud in every 
direction, the cowboys giving their peculiar cry of " Vaca, 
vaca"; and with much waving of hats, hot expostula- 
tions, and deep guttural exclamations the bewildered herds 
were soon driven on, one by one, past the vigilant eye of 
the manager; sick or diseased animals — few in number, 
by the bye — were cut out from the crowd, thrown by a 
twist of the neck to the ground, and an examination of 
the ills that cow flesh is heir to occupying but a few 
moments in each case. About six fine saddle-horses are 
in constant use, and, as is usual with all Costa Rican 
horses, are guided by the reins pressed against the neck ; 
they change their easy running gait to the gallop, the trot, 
and the lope as required. A commissary house near the 
railroad station, well stocked and ably managed, forms one 
of the many sources of revenue of the plantation. Here 
the Jamaican laborer buys his machete, boots, lanterns, 



76 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

saddles, cotton goods, groceries, liquid goods, etc., at rea- 
sonable prices, principally paid for by the men in checks 
on their monthly account. 

A large bath-house, through which dashes a cool and 
agreeable stream of water, is one of the many comforts of 
the hacienda El Salvador. 



La Emilia 

The plantation of La Emilia, now the property of the 
United Fruit Company, was formerly owned by Mr. Minor 
C. Keith for 14 years ; it is within one and a half 
miles from El Salvador, and has about the same number 
of acres. Manager Kissock finishes most of his fat cattle 
and breeding stock here. Over these broad acres, with 
good horses, we went, fording two streams ; flocks of 
screaming green parrots cross our path, huge guava 
trees draped with Spanish moss and hanging vines grace 
the landscape. We find a pleasant situation for the 
house of the manager, who sometimes resides here, and 
has a liking for rare orchids, which flower on the veranda. 
The Turialba volcano is in sight from the house, and 
the prevailing winds are mostly from the southeast ; the 
rain in the afternoon comes from the mountains, in 
the morning: from the eastward. 




Ruins of Church at Orosi — Costa Rica. 



EL SALVADOR 77 

The Banana River Plantation 

the united fruit company 

A branch railroad runs about 14 miles through the cocoa- 
nut trees and banana plants, and as the train skirts the beach 
the roar of the breakers pounding on the yellow sand fills 
one's ears. There are about 50,000 cocoanut trees along this 
shore. Just beyond Westfalia station commences the Banana 
River Plantation : there are at least 1200 acres of bananas, 
and between the rows there are many cacao trees (chocolate), 
the land being peculiarly suitable for cacao. The railroad is 
shortly to be extended through the property ; at present 
there is about 12 miles of a 3 ft. 6 in. gauge track running 
close to the sea, about halfway it branches inland and 
extends toward the distant range of Talamanca, which rises 
to the south. There is good hunting in the season : deer, 
alligators, monkeys, and ducks, and farther back, near the 
mountains, jaguars or spotted tigers, also the puma (Ameri- 
can lion) and panthers can be shot ; there is occasionally a 
fine skin that can be purchased at some of the stores on 
the line. The tigers are shot by the Indians on the Banana 
River about 15 miles from the terminal of the railroad, and 
they bring the skins to the shopkeepers who sell supplies. 
The Costa Rica government allows one shot-gun or rifle to 
each traveller entering Costa Rica, but the rifle must be 



78 



THE-GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 



a sporting rifle, and not a Mauser. The ride on the railroad 
is a very interesting one ; from the car platform as the train 
proceeds numerous chances can be had to practise with 
revolvers on hawks, alligators, and monkeys. The country 
that the railroad passes through is about the wildest on the 
coast and gives the traveller the best idea of tropical nature 
in its most retiring- moods. 




BANANA TRAIN 



Zent Farm and Plantations 

From the junction of the railroad at La Junta, a branch 
line extends for eight miles to the Zent Plantations of 
the United Fruit Company, consisting of : — 



Chiripo .... 


iooo manzanas 


Boston .... 


1 200 manzanas 


Sterling .... 


250 manzanas 


Victoria .... 


500 manzanas 


Zent .... 


1000 manzanas 



EL SALVADOR 79 

Zent is very valuable and extensive property ; there are 
700 to 800 men employed in the cultivation of the finest 
banana lands that are owned by the United Fruit Company. 
Zent has the reputation of being very unhealthy, but in only 
isolated instances did the writer note any signs of malarial 
sickness ; this is now being counteracted by changes in the 
situation of the homes of the employees. 

The plantations are 50 feet above the sea, and certainly 
those farms on the banks of the river could not be in a more 
beautiful and healthy situation. There is now under con- 
struction 20 miles of railroad called the Limon extension, 
destined to open the plantations and make them more in 
direct touch with the steamers. The railroad has two 
engines and many cars to assist the rapid transit of the fruit. 
Mr. William. H. Kyes, the manager, considers that plough- 
ing is a waste of time here, the ground being so rich, and 
cleaning and cutting away the stumps is all that is neces- 
sary for good results ; the managers of the plantations on the 
" Old Line " are of a different mind, however. 

The 50 horse kind on the plantation are not eating their 
heads off by any means in the stables. Toward the west 
the Turialba volcano looms up, forming a purple shadow at 
evening ; the plantations resting at the base of the range of 
mountains which extend to the sea. 



80 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

COLOMBIANA 
THE UNITED FRUIT COMPANY 

This plantation, consisting of iooo acres, is situated on 
the old line of railroad about halfway to Guapiles. 

Under the efficient management of Mr. Arthur, the 
banana cultivation is carried to its highest point ; thorough 
cultivation between rows by eight teams of mules with 
ploughs render the fruit taken from this plantation hard to 
equal. One meets old-fashioned Southern hospitality here 
upon visiting this beautiful and interesting spot ; planta- 
tion life is seen in all its charm. Mr. Arthur has two 
fine turkey-cocks, great pets of the family, who are trained 
to cheer for Admiral Schley and General Wheeler. Mr. 
Arthur calls the turkeys to him and says, " Now, boys, 
cheer for Schley." " Gobble, gobble, gobble," call the 
turkeys. "Now for General Wheeler." "Gobble, gobble, 
gobble," repeat the prize birds, and they strut about in 
conscious knowledge of their beauty and intelligence. 

The hacienda of Mrs. Arnold is situated on a command- 
ing eminence 350 feet above Por-t Limon and about one 
mile from the market-place. The farm contains about 
1000 manzanas : 250 manzanas in bananas, 100 manzanas in 
cacao (chocolate), the balance consisting of primeval woods 
and undeveloped land. A few hundred feet from the 




^ AV'TVC^A cvVVt^ 



Indian Woman — Costa Rica. 



EL SALVADOR Si 

house is an elevation looking out over Limon and the 
distant sea. Here is an ideal situation for a first-class 
hotel. The air is pure and fresh, the grounds and gar- 
dens already prepared at the expense of thousands of 
dollars. Every variety of croton, beautiful specimens of 
cocoanuts, cacao, rubber trees, cactus, oranges, and limes — 
surely here is a fine investment for Northern capitalists. 
A first-class hotel, similar to the Titchfield House, Port 
Antonio, Jamaica, would undoubtedly succeed here. The 
cacao, or chocolate, tree flourishes on this plantation 
under the very best of conditions, the color of the pod 
when ripe being a brilliant orange-yellow; heaps of cacao 
in the pod may be seen in the season lying by the road,, 
ready to be transported to the house. The plantation, in 
addition, has some 7000 young cocoanut trees. The cacao 
(chocolate) harvest gives two crops a year, and in the one 
month of November the plantation clears 40 cwt. of cacao. 
The beans are in a compact form, 36 to 40 to the pod, 
and surrounded by a white and acid-tasting jelly which 
makes the far-famed cacao butter. The crop of cacao from 
Mrs. Arnold's plantation is sent exclusively to England. 
The cacao takes six years to mature, but bears at three 
years old. The average crop is quoted at two pounds per 
tree. Costa Rica cacao cannot be purchased under 40 
cents gold per pound, being of such excellent quality.. 



82 



THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 



The cacao bean (theobroma) contains the following con- 
stituents : — 

Cacao butter , 50 parts. 

Albuminoid substances . . " . ■ 20 parts. 

Starch sugar, etc. . . ' . . . . 13 parts. 

Salts 4 parts. 

Other substances ..... . 13 parts. 

A most enjoyable and novel horseback ride can be taken 
through this property, which extends from two to four miles 
along the edge of the sea. As one rides through several 
miles of bananas and cacao, gradually the bananas are left 
behind and you enter the primeval tropical forest, dense, 
gloomy, shot with bars of vivid sunlight ; occasionally the 
bark of a distant baboon or the shriek of an angry parrot 
is the only sound which breaks the silence of nature. The 
enormous trees towering to the sky, covered with vines 
and orchids, shut out the sun, and this part of the ride 
will be thoroughly appreciated, as the trees act as an 
enormous umbrella. 

An hour's ride brings the party to the edge of the sea, 
where a small but safe harbor has been planned, the 
entrance and harbor being masked by a small island which 
forms an excellent breakwater. A beautiful sandy beach 
half a mile long should be mentioned, as it constitutes a 
valuable addition to the property ; and a practicable road 



EL SALVADOR 83 

from Port Limon to this harbor would go far toward 
developing this gem of Costa Rica. 

The Las Mesas Coffee Estates, Ld. 

The Las Mesas Coffee Plantation is situated about 3600 
feet above the sea, and is a flag station on the Costa Rica 
railroad. There are about 250 manzanas in coffee, and 
some 50 manzanas in sugar for the manufacture of dulce. 
The company have a grand situation south of Turialba, 
250 feet above the railroad. 

The works for preparing the coffee for shipment is 
within 100 yards of the railroad ; below these buildings 
can be seen other broad vistas of coffee belonging to the 
company, which, by the way, is a close corporation of a 
limited number of stockholders, principally Canadian capi- 
talists. 

From the station of the railroad a winding road passes 
up the cliff, which is 250 feet high, connecting the 
hacienda and northern half of the estate with the south- 
ern half. Coffee is seen here in different stages of 
growth — from the little tender shoot just budding from 
the ground, to grand masses of the trees 12 to 14 feet 
high, and from a few days old to four years of age. The 
lower portion of the estate below the drying patios is in 
the shape of an oval, acres in extent, and surrounded by 



8 4 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

the great purple ridges of the mountains, marking the 
course of the Reventazon River. 

All the processes of preparing the coffee for the mar- 
ket can be seen here to perfection with the most modern 
machinery, consisting of pulpers and dryers, and washing- 
tanks for separating the berries from the husk ; all 
arranged with the idea for economizing labor, the berry 
not being touched by the hand after it has been stripped 
from the tree until it is bagged ready for the American 
market. A visit to this interesting property, via San 
Jose, will well repay the visitor to Costa Rica. 

Plantation Life 

Many of the plantations are widely separated from the 
centre of law and order, lost in the dense forests of the 
hot belt, and far from fresh supplies of food. Naturally, 
there is little central authority ; it is usually vested in the 
"mandador," or manager of the property, who is some- 
times a local judge of the district. 

The Jamaican negro seldom gives any trouble ; he is 
usually respectful and reasonable if rightly managed. 
There are, of course, exceptions ; usually these are men 
who have a little smattering of law, and stand strictly on 
their rights (as they conceive them) as British subjects, 
and bluster at any opening given them. 




A Plantation Laborer. 



EL SALVADOR 85 

At the hacienda, the managers of the different divisions 
of the plantation meet at meals and dine together in com- 
pany, the food consisting of canned goods, hot bread, fresh 
milk, yams, eggs, plantains, and occasionally venison, the 
conversation at table consisting of jokes at one another's 
expense, the victim bearing it with commendable patience, 
and retorting with fluency. The rooms in which the men 
sleep, on the second floor (usually with a chum), are com- 
fortable, clean, and homelike. The veranda on the ground 
floor is large and spacious, littered with saddles, riding; 
leggins, boots, and spurs, or packages of goods. 

In the evening, when there may be ladies present, the 
musical genius brings out his guitar and keeps his audi- 
ence enthralled for hours. Spanish songs, negro ragtime, 
latest operas, soar out into the tropical night and cause the 
crowd of humble retainers in the yard to chuckle in sym- 
pathy and delight. Early every morning, by 6 a.m. at least, 
each overseer departs on his little high-spirited horse to 
make his rounds, looking up the different gangs of work- 
men, directing their work, and taking stock of the planta- 
tion on the hoof. To accompany any one of the managers 
on their inspection tour is an experience in itself. They 
are tireless and exact in the fulfilment of their duties, and 
receive with complacency any praises from the Northern 
visitor as to the fine condition of their division. 



86 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

These men are of a simple and steady habit (as they 
have to be, or die of fever), warm-hearted, canny, like a 
Scotchman, some of them, and quick to perceive and 
appreciate a genuine liking for themselves and their style 
of life. Then there are the clerks, book-keepers, and 
managers of the commissary (connected with each plan- 
tation), tall, likely young fellows from the Southern part 
of the United States mostly, now and then a bean-eater 
from Boston, all wearing a light-weight, mouse-colored 
" Stetson " sombrero, well slouched down over the eyes, 
cotton shirts, and riding trousers of linen or wool, with 
leather riding leggins. They take life jovially, these 
youngsters, and look forward to a plantation of their own 
some day. 

Here is to the boys on the " Old Line." May they 
live long and prosper ! 




v W&>- 



A STEAMER OF THE UNITED FRUIT CO. LOADING BANANAS 



CHAPTER XI 
TI?<? republic; of \\0T)duras 

ONDURAS was discovered by Columbus during 
his fourth voyage, about . ten years after his first 
expedition. The locality first seen by him was 
the island of Guanaja, the most easterly of the group now 
called the Bay Islands, where he arrived on the 30th of 
July, 1502. He reached the mainland on the 14th of 
August, at a point which he named Punta de Caxinas, a 
cape stretching out into the sea and forming what was 
afterward known as the bay of Truxillo. Honduras is 
next heard of when Gil Gonzales Davila, while on a voyage 
from Sto. Domingo to Nicaragua in 1524, steering too far 
to the westward, reached the coast near the bay now called 
Puerto Cortez. 

The principal ports of Honduras on the Atlantic side 
are Puerto Cortez, Omoa, Ceiba, Truxillo. The beautiful 
and spacious harbor of Puerto Cortez was discovered in 
1524. Cortes, in writing to the king of Spain, gave 
Puerto Cortez high praise. The bay is somewhat in the 
shape of a horseshoe, with great depth of water close to 
the shore. 

87 



88 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

At Puerto Cortez the sea breeze is constant and refresh- 
ing. There is very little to cause one to stay more than 
a week here, though the traveller will be well cared for 
at Hotel Lefebvre. The principal street of Puerto Cortez 
is a disgrace to the town, consisting of the railroad track 
only ; the railroad is certainly handy and convenient, for 
it is constantly in the way. 

There was an amusing smuggling case at the Custom 
House last year, — a dozen revolvers, several thousand 
cartridges for them, and some thousand of rifle cartridges 
were smuggled in kegs of nails ; a keg broke in the hand- 
ling at the Custom House (the cartridges and revolvers 
being in a central compartment with nails at both ends), 
and thus were discovered ; the party to whom they were 
consigned (a respected citizen of San Pedro Sula) dis- 
claimed all knowledge of them, and the ammunition was 
seized by the government. 

The authorities of Puerto Cortez have a very laughable 
method of challenging at the guardhouse, in the evening, 
visitors and inhabitants when passing from one end of the 
town to the other. The passer-by is halted peremptorily at 
the cuartel, and made to give an account of himself ; this 
system of police is very hurtful to the reputation of the 
town, and cannot be too greatly condemned. 

One of the most interesting things to study in Puerto 





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THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS 89 

Cortez is the exiled Louisiana Lottery Company, which 
has its headquarters here under the name of the Hondu- 
ras Lottery Company. On the left-hand side of the rail- 
road, and facing it, is the beautiful house owned by this 
company. Should the visitor desire a change from the 
hotel in the town, he will do well to seek a room here, as 
the manager's wife will willingly take him in as a paying 
guest. For further information regarding the status and 
statistics of this remarkable organization, I would refer 
the inquiring mind to the article in Harper's Weekly of 
August 3, 1895. 

The well-known firm of Messrs. Geo. D. Emery, Boston, 
Massachusetts (Chelsea), imports into Boston from Puerto 
Cortez 3000 logs of mahogany a month. 

The United Fruit Company have regular sailings of their 
steamers from New Orleans for this port, sailing every 
Thursday at 9 a.m., and from Mobile trimonthly. The 
exportation of bananas from Puerto Cortez is at the present 
time very large, the steamers of the United Fruit Com- 
pany carrying large cargoes, about 125,000 bunches a month. 
In 1 891, the banana trade was only in its infancy, and not 
more than 320,000 bunches a year were exported from this 
port, the statistics of the manager of the railroad at that date 
being very interesting, as showing the difficulties of the plant- 
ers at that time, now happily nearly overcome. From Sep- 



9 o THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

tember to December, each year, the excessive rains on the 
railroad are liable to cause a decrease of shipments ; the 
rains sometimes entirely shut off the upper and most pro- 
ductive part of the road, and during this time many thou- 
sands of bunches are lost to the planters. 

To the estimates of shipments made by the railroad to 
Puerto Cortez will have to be added at least 25 per 




LOADING BANANAS 



cent for fruit lost to the fruit growers, caused by the 
breaking down of trains, making it impossible to receive 
fruit for shipment, as the fruit would be too old ; and from 
8 to 10 per cent to be added for fruit arriving in Puerto 
Cortez in bad or bruised condition, and thrown away, no 
account of which is taken by the railroad. 



THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS 91 

There is a very large amount of vacant land along the 
line of the road, which would all be planted in bananas if 
the railroad was kept in any kind of condition. 

The Lillian iron mine, at El Pariso, 26 miles on the 
railroad from Puerto Cortez (the property is about four 
miles square), is managed by Senor A. C. de Leon. It is 
now being developed, and is a very valuable property. It 
has three shafts ; the ore assays : — 

Magnetic iron ...... 67.30 per cent. 

Silicon 1.30 per cent. 

Aluminium 2.20 per cent. 

Black oxide iron . . . . . . None. 

The Inter-oceanic Railroad, from Puerto Cortez to San 
Pedro Sula, is 38 miles in length, fare $3.00 Honduras 
money. At the present time (1900) the railroad is in 
a very inferior condition. The cars are uncomfortable 
and dirty. There is a hope that the railroad will shortly 
be acquired by Northern capitalists, who will give the rail- 
road needed attention. 

San Pedro Sula has a population of about 3000 inhabit- 
ants, and is situated on the plain of Sula, surrounded 
by hills, the tops covered by the low clouds. There is a 
fine Catholic church and a Protestant meeting-house. The 
Rio de Las Piedras flows through the plain. There are 
three main streets running the entire length of the town. 



Q2 



THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 



The air and climate of San Pedro is very good, and a 
pleasant change from Puerto Cortez, being at least ten 
degrees cooler. 

The principal hotel is very poor, but will serve to stay 
at for at least a day or two. To reach Tegucigalpa, the 
capital of Honduras, from San Pedro Sula, mules may be 
hired at the hotel for the journey of about 250 miles, a 
journey of a week. The cost of hiring a mule is $15 to 
$20 gold per week, with like amount for servant and 
mule ; cargo mules carry 200 pounds, and the charge for 
them is $12 gold for the journey. Cost of provisions $1 
per day, for servant and mule extra ; plenty of small 
change, and a cloth hammock is recommended, and one 
should take his own saddle, as those for hire are not com- 
fortable. 

Route of Travel 



San Pedro Sula to Pinto 
Pinto to Santa Cruz 
Santa Cruz to Miambar 
Miambar to Cueras 
Cueras to Comayagua . 
Comayagua to Proteccion 
Proteccion to Tegucigalpa 



First day. 
Second day. 
Third day. 
Fourth day. 
Fifth day. 
Sixth day. 
Seventh day. 



This road (one can hardly call it a road) is a bad one in 
the dry season ; in the wet season it is impassable. The road 
from Tegucigalpa to the Pacific Ocean is about 75 miles 




3 

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THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS 93 

and much easier, connecting by steamer on the Pacific 
with Panama and San Francisco. 

Tegucigalpa (City of the Silver Hills) is the largest and 

finest city of the republic of Honduras. By the census 

of 1887 it contained 12,587 inhabitants. The exact date 

of its founding is not known, but it existed as a native 

settlement before the Spanish conquest. The city is 

situated in a valley 3200 feet above the sea, on the 

eastern bank of the Choluteca River, or Rio Grande ; 

the river at this point is about 200 feet wide. The 

streets are narrow, the houses are built of adobe, 

whitewashed, and painted in brilliant colors. The central 

point of the city is the central park. In the centre is a 

bronze equestrian statue of Morazan, the hero of Central 

American independence. On the east side of the plaza 

is the principal church. It is, with the exception of the 

cathedral at Comayagua, the largest and handsomest church 

in Honduras. It was built in 1782. The church is of 

the Moorish style, all pure white; it has a clock and bells; 

there are no seats. It has two towers and an imposing 

facade, the roof terminating in a dome over the altar. The 

principal altar is of carved wood richly gilded. On the 

walls are some ancient paintings. The water supply of 

the city is very good, brought from the Rio Jutiapa, a 

distance of 12 miles. 



94 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

Surrounding the capital is a magnificent mineral region. 
The mines of the adjacent territory have yielded immense 
quantities of gold and silver, but under very crude condi- 
tions, until of late years new energy and American capital 
have rejuvenated this region. Seven miles to the north 
of Tegucigalpa is the Santa Lucia mine ; it has 200 
veins of silver ore. The ore is principally galena and 
sulphuret. The Rosario mine at San Juancito sends out 
a mule train of 30 mules every month (1899) through 
Tegucigalpa to the Pacific coast, each mule carrying two 
bars of silver bullion, weighing 125 pounds apiece, 18 per 
cent of which is gold. 

The opal mines of Honduras are near the town of Eran- 
dique in the department of Gracias. Spanish Honduras 
lies between 13 and 16 N. latitude. The climate is semi- 
tropical. The heat of the Pacific coast is not so excessive 
as the Atlantic side. The population of Honduras is about 
400,000. The Hondurefios are a peaceful and friendly 
people, kind and hospitable to all strangers. 

The fruit of Honduras consists of the banana, custard- 
apple, plums, lemons, limes, oranges, pomegranates, papaws, 
rose-apples, mangoes, guavas, cacao, etc. Vegetable prod- 
ucts : tobacco, indigo, sassafras, Peruvian bark, vanilla, 
pimento, ginger, pepper, sarsaparilla, yams, plantains, etc. 

The papaya, or papaw, tree is found in the mountains 





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THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS 95 

of Honduras and Costa Rica, and is grown near the 
houses. The tree is small, reaching three or four yards in 
height and less than a foot in diameter. It is straight, 
and has no branches from the middle of the trunk. The 
fruit grows to the size of an ordinary melon. The very 
sweet pulp is rather insipid, but is a useful antiscorbutic. 

The Dead City of Copan 

One of the remarkable sights in Honduras are the ruins 
of Copan, now overgrown with a dense and luxuriant tropi- 
cal vegetation. Diego Garcia Polacio was the first Euro- 
pean to visit them. Stevens has since then investigated 
these ruins. They are situated in the mountainous interior 
of the country, a few miles distant from the Guatemalan 
frontier, and about midway between the Pacific and the 
Atlantic. At the present time, they show only dilapidated 
fragments covered with sculptured figures and hieroglyph- 
ics. Among the most interesting of the remains are 
numerous monoliths scattered about — some erect, others 
fallen and almost buried in the ground. Some of the pil- 
lars are more than eleven feet in length, width three and 
a half feet, thickness three feet. On the front side is rep- 
resented the figure of a man with a strange head-dress 
and breast-plate, the figure deeply cut and surrounded 
with elaborate carvings. 



96 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

The relievos sculpture and graved stones found in the 
ruined cities of Central America have some elements of 
resemblance to the mythological monuments and designs 
of the Old World. Some day the origin and histories of 
these earthworks and ruins may be discovered ; but it will 
probably be found by searching into the writings of the 
ancient European and Asiatic authors. The materials for 
the development of the geography and history of antedi- 
luvian America lie scattered in the fragmentary traditions 
of other lands. 

The Bay Islands 

The Bay Islands are a number of small islands lying 
30 miles off the coast of Spanish Honduras, southeast 
of Puerto Cortez ; they consist of five islands, four days' 
steamship travel from New Orleans. Ruatan is the prin- 
cipal island and the most important of the group. It is 
40 miles long and 3 miles wide. Population 3000, mostly 
Carib Indians. Their only industry is the handling of 
cocoanuts, of which there are 8,000,000 shipped in a 
year. Cocoanuts form the mainstay of the trade, and 
there is nothing easier to grow. 

To start a grove, one merely burns off a piece of land 
and plants the nuts in rows 20 feet apart. In from four 
to five years' time the trees are a dozen feet high and 



THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS 



97 



are beginning to bear, and after that the planter is fixed 
for life. The nuts are never picked, but as they mature 
they drop off, and this shower of fruit goes on steadily 
month after month all the year around. Some of the trees 
on the island are known to be over 50 years old and are 
still in full bearing. 




A TROPICAL PARADISE 



There is an active ship-building industry for small ton- 
nage, ranging from 15 tons *up to 75. The vessels are 
rigged as sloops. 

The islands are a tropical paradise, overrun with wild 
roses and every imaginable kind of flower. Bananas, 
oranges, mangoes, plums, and pineapples grow wild in 
abundance, without cultivation. It is, indeed, a lazy man's 
paradise. 

Utilla, with 800 population, is the shipping port of the 



98 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

islands, several steamers of the United Fruit Company 
touching here. Utila, Ruatan, Bonacca, Barbareta, and 
Morat make up the Bay Islands. Barbareta is three miles 
long, and some hundred head of cattle are kept on it. 

The climate of the islands is very equal ; from 66° to 
88° is the regular mark at all times. 

The islands are owned by the republic of Honduras, 
represented in the islands by an administrator, a com- 
mandante, and a governor. 




Cargo Boats. 



CHAPTER XII 
"P?*? R<?puklk of (juat<?/T\ala 



' — TpHE republic of Guatemala faces on the Atlantic 
| and Pacific oceans ; she has two ports on the 

e> Atlantic and three ports on the Pacific. Her rail- 
ways and iron piers on the Pacific belong to Americans. 
The republic has no war vessels ; the ports on the Pacific 
are open roadsteads. Livingston, on the Caribbean side, is 
a small picturesque town situated at the mouth of the Rio 
Dulce, and exports many thousand bunches of bananas 
yearly. Judging from the first-class samples of coffee berry 
ripe on the stalk seen by the writer at the port, the future 
of Livingston as a coffee centre is very bright. Mr. Frank 
Dennis, United States Consular Agent at Livingston, is a 
Maine man, and an expert on the coffee plant, and he and 
Mr. W. L. Adams (late of Boston) will be happy to assist 
any traveller desirous of viewing the magnificent scenery 
of the Rio Dulce, the outlet to Lake Izabal. 

The steamer stops here only on the down trip to Puerto 
Cortez. About ioo miles from Belize we come to Puerto 
Barrios, another entrance port to the republic of Gua- 

Lrffc 



ioo THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

temala, visited weekly by the steamers* of the United 
Fruit Company. It is the Atlantic terminal of the North- 
ern Railroad, which proceeds some 85 miles toward the 
capital, and ends at the station El Rancho, two days' 
mule-back ride from Guatemala City. There is a comfort- 
able hotel at El Rancho, and the ride of 48 hours to the 
capital is comparatively easy. The traveller to Guatemala 
City should provide suitable provisions to carry with him, 
as the chance of finding food on the way is exceedingly 
doubtful. Near Guatemala City there are many wonder- 
ful and beautiful antiquities to be seen in Antigua City, 
especially the old cathedral and examples of Spanish 
architecture of the last two centuries. There is an engrav- 
ing of Guatemala City (Antigua) in " Gage's Voyages " 
(Amsterdam), 1720. Antigua had grown to be the city 
of the most importance after Mexico City in Spanish 
America ; and this in spite of the many earthquakes 
which in succession nearly destroyed it, noticeably those 
of 1 75 1, 1757, 1765, and 1773. These earthquakes induced 
the inhabitants to remove to another locality, and thus 
the new capital of Guatemala was founded. The present 
population of Antigua is about 20,000, of Guatemala City 
45,000. The area of Guatemala is 40,620 square miles, 
population 1,800,000 or more, mostly Indians and their 
descendants. 



THE REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA 101 

The regular army of Guatemala consists of about 5000 
men. It is well known that Guatemala has a large 
quantity of war material, including Krupp mountain-guns, 
etc., but lacks trained men in her ranks and among her 
officers. 



CHAPTER XIII 
British jHo^duras 

IONDURAS was discovered in 1502 by Columbus,, 
and in 15 18 Grijalra landed on the island of 
Cozumel, and named the country New Spain. 
The country, what now constitutes British Honduras, was 
ceded to Great Britain in July, 1670. Since the invasion 
of 1798, when the Spaniards were repulsed, the English 
have held the territory by right of conquest in addition 
to claims of occupation. Captain Nathaniel Uring, writing 
in 1720 a history of his voyages and travels to the bay of 
Honduras and Belize River, said : " The country is all a 
flat, and great part of it a morass, with several large 
lagoons. In the dry time of the year the logwood cutters 
search for work, that is, where there are a good number 
of logwood trees, and then build a hut near them, where 
they live during the time they are cutting. Some of these 
trees grow very tall and straight, though most of them are 
low and crooked. The general price of the wood is ^5 
per ton Jamaica money. The logwood cutters during the 
floods dwell some 42 miles up the river at the 'Barca- 




Belize — Old Gate. 



BRITISH HONDURAS 



103 



dares,' where they have built their huts upon pretty high 
banks, which just keep 'em out of the water in the time 
of the floods." British Honduras is situated on the eastern 
slopes of the peninsula of Yucatan, distant from England 
5700 miles, 900 miles south of New Orleans, 600 miles 
west of Jamaica. British Honduras is a tropical country, 
the temperature ranging from 56 to 96 , and averaging 
75° to 8o°. Toledo is a thriving colony of settlers from 
the United States, many having become independent. 

To reach British Honduras, the United Fruit Company 
(New Orleans branch) will give all information for intending 
tourists, immigrants, or settlers. Hurricanes or cyclones 
never reach the coast of British Honduras ; the highest 
velocity noted of the wind was 25 miles an hour. August 
to November are the rainy months ; February, March, 
and April the dry months. The rise and progress of 
the colony of British Honduras has been continually 
connected with the fortunes of its trade in timber and 
dyewoods. 

The chief industry of the colony is wood-cutting, which 
has been carried on for over 200 years; as a result,, 
much of the finest timber within reach of the principal 
rivers has been cut down ; but there are vast tracts of 
virgin forests in the interior, growing some of the finest 
timber trees to be found in any part of the world. 



104 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

Among the woods may be mentioned mahogany, logwood, 
cedar, sapodilla, rosewood, fustic, ironwood, redwood, cocoa- 
nut palm, etc. 

Belize has a seacoast of about 180 miles, and extends 
into the interior about 68 miles, with an area of 7562 
square miles, and is about twice the size of Jamaica. The 
highest peak in the Cockscomb Mountains is Victoria Peak, 
3700 feet above the sea level, showing a beautiful and 
picturesque outline against the sunset. The population of 
British Honduras is about 30,000 (1890). 

The name of the capital, Belize, was probably derived 
from the French word baliae, a beacon. The Indian name 
of Belize is Mopan ; of Honduras, Zuina. The original 
settlement by the British cannot be traced to any date 
farther back than the protectorate of Cromwell. Ship- 
masters brought logwood to London in 1666, which first 
drew the attention of British capitalists to this country. 

Belize, the capital of British Honduras, is situated on 
one of the mouths of the Old River, near Fort George. 
The population in 1881 was 27,452, of which 375 were 
white and 27,077 colored or black. 

The town presents a most pleasing aspect from the harbor. 
The houses are nearly all built of wood. The chief buildings 
are the Court House (1880), in the centre of the town, the 
St. John's Episcopal Cathedral (18 12), Government House 
(1814), and the Roman Catholic Convent. 



BRITISH HONDURAS 105 

The town is built on the banks of the river for half a 
mile, and extends along the shore for over two miles. A 
wooden bridge crosses the river mouth ; it was opened in 
1859. Many of the houses are surrounded with gardens 
planted with oleanders, cocoanut trees, crotons, and other 
bright-colored shrubs and trees. It is a very healthful town 
(though surrounded by swamps) ; this is due to the sea 




breezes and sandy subsoil. Some places Lave been filled 
with mahogany chips, but they have been buried deeply 
in sand. 

From New Orleans, Louisiana, the United Fruit Company 
send a fast line of Royal Mail steamers to Belize, sailing 
every Thursday at 9 a.m. It is delightful to get away from 
frosty lands and breathe the intoxicating air of the "Golden 



106 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

Caribbean," finding the deep blue of the waters of the Gulf 
of Mexico a great contrast to the muddy yellow ochre color 
of the Mississippi River. The swift steamers, the Break- 
water and the Stillwater., are models of safety and neatness, 
and the efficient pursers of the steamers see to the comfort 
of all their passengers. The steamer arrives at Belize (at 
7 p.m.) in less than four days, and anchors two miles from 
the shore, as the harbor is shallow. We go ashore in the 
small local sail-boats, with an exciting race between the 
different skippers (as to which will reach the Custom House 
wharf first) to add to the interest of our first approach to 
tropic shores. The water of the harbor is smooth and glassy, 
and sometimes one may see the triangular fin of the 
shark cutting the surface. 

Nicaragua 

Nicaragua, among the Central American republics, holds 
an important position between the two great oceans. It con- 
tains about 40,000 square miles. The population of Nica- 
ragua is, according to the census of 1890, 360,000. The 
boundary between Nicaragua and Costa Rica was long in 
dispute, but was defined by a treaty between the two repub- 
lics which was concluded on April 15, 1858. The Caribbean 
coast of Nicaragua measures about 300 miles from north to 
south. The ports of entry on the Atlantic side are San 




Street in Belize — British Honduras. 



BRITISH HONDURAS 107 

Juan del Norte, or Greytown, Cabo de Gracias a Dios, and 
Bluefields. In consequence of the great development of 
the trade in bananas and other tropical fruits, and the 
establishment of regular lines of steamers from the United 
States, Bluefields is assuming a position of importance as a 
port. The Bluefields River, or the Mico, has its source in 
the mountains ; its general course is from west to east. It 
is a beautiful river, and for a distance of 65 miles, from 
Bluefields to the Boca de Rama, large steamers running to 
New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston ascend 
without difficulty. 

The banana exportation from the coast of Nicaragua is 
very large, principally transported weekly from Bluefields 
and Rama to New Orleans by the United Fruit Company. 
The distance from New Orleans to Bluefields is 1210 miles, 
and the steamers of the United Fruit Company take five days 
to make the trip. The service is semi-weekly, the steamers 
carrying passengers, freight, and mail from New Orleans, 
returning loaded with bananas, gold, rubber, cocoanuts, and 
other freight, as well as passengers for the States. 

Previous to the war between the United States and Spain 
the cocoanut trade of Big and Little Corn Islands, off the 
coast of Nicaragua, was controlled by small American trad- 
ing vessels. They came with a miscellaneous cargo and 
traded it for cocoanuts, at the rate of one cent each, other- 



108 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

wise they paid $10 gold a thousand for them. Now the 
cocoanuts are sent to New Orleans on the fruit steamers. 
During 1898, 688,711 cocoanuts, valued at $10,196 gold 
were shipped from these islands. 

American capital is interested in improvements along the 
coast from Bluefields to Cape Gracias. Lighthouses are to 
be erected at suitable points along the coast ; a line of 
steamers will be provided to run between Greytown and 
Cape Gracias, calling at intermediate ports. In order to 
bring the banana plantations in closer communication with 
the shore, the plan is to build a railroad from the Rama 
River to Monkey Point, and then provide suitable harbor 
facilities for shipping the fruit on ocean-going steamships 
to the United States. 



The Nicaragua Canal 

The question of interoceanic communication across the 
American isthmus has been continually presented to the 
attention of the civilized world with more or less persist- 
ency since the days of Columbus. 

Von Humboldt, in his writings, uses the Nicaraguan 
route as the standard of his comparisons of the different 
routes under discussion. Though more recent and more 
exact information has not fully corroborated all of his opin- 



BRITISH HONDURAS 109 

ions, it has fully confirmed all that he said or implied con- 
cerning the Nicaraguan route. 

San Juan del Norte, or Greytown, and Brito, on the 
Pacific, are the termini of the canal. Its length from port 
to port is 169^ miles, of which 26| will be excavated chan- 
nel, and 142I miles lakes, rivers, and basins. 

The summit level is necessarily' that of Lake Nicaragua, 
no feet above the sea. This magnificent body of water, 
in the centre of the country, is the key of the technical 
problem ; and as navigation is possible for some distance 
down its outlet, the San Juan, there are in reality two 
canals to be constructed, one to join the lake with the 
Pacific, and the other to extend the navigable water of the 
San Juan to the Caribbean Sea. There will be three locks 
near either end. 

For 9^ miles from the inner harbor at San Juan del 
Norte, the canal extends southwesterly across the lowlands 
of the coast to the foot-hills of the Cordillera, known as the 
eastern divide, where is located the first of the eastern 
locks. 

The locks follow in close succession : No. 1, at 9^- miles, 
with a lift of 31 feet ; No. 2, 1^ miles farther on, with a lift 
of 30 feet ; and No. 3, about 2\ miles beyond, with a lift of 
45 feet. 

Here commences the summit level of the canal at an 



no THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

elevation of 106 feet above the sea, which allows four feet 
of fall from the lake for flowage. 

Dredging in Lake Nicaragua to an average depth of 
10 feet in soft mud bottom, width 150 feet, for 14 miles 
from the shore, will secure a navigable channel of 30 feet 
to deep water. 

From this point the course of the canal is across the 
lake to the mouth of the Rio Lajas, across the western 
divide, which is 43 feet above the canal level, to the 
valley of the Rio Grande and the Tola basin ; for 9 
miles from the lake there will be required considerable 
earth and rock excavation. About 5^ miles farther on, 
near La Flor, are located locks Nos. 4 and 5 and a 
large dam which impounds the waters of the Tola basin. 
These locks terminate the summit level of the canal. 

Lock No. 6 is the last of the western series, and will 
lower the canal to the level of the Pacific, with a lift 
of 21 to 29 feet, varying according to tidal conditions. 

The work of construction has progressed slowly, but 
systematically, from the year 1889. The breakwater, 
erected at the entrance of the old harbor of San Juan, 
is constantly being improved and lengthened, and when 
the breakwater had reached the length of 800 feet, it 
caused the channel to deepen to 15 feet or more, which 
will be increased by dredges to over 30 feet. 




Maya Monolith — Belize. 



BRITISH HONDURAS m 

The country through which the course of the canal 
is laid, for the first 10 miles from the coast, is a flat, 
alluvial formation, with occasional lagoons and swamps 
covered with a dense, primeval forest. 

Above the San Carlos and at Machuca the forests 
which clothe the banks of the river are tropical in luxu- 
riance. The lofty trees are draped with vines, which 
creep and twine among their branches and droop to the 
water's edge in massive walls of verdure. 

Above Machuca there are occasional clearings, where 
the lands are cultivated, through which the distant hills 
appear. At other places the hills themselves rise with 
steep and almost precipitous slopes directly from the 
river. 

At Castillo is an old Spanish fort, garrisoned by the 
Nicaraguan government. It was considered impregnable 
by its builders, but was captured by a British force in 
1780. 

The commercial problem which the opening of a canal 
across Nicaragua would solve is the same to-day as that 
which stimulated Columbus and his contemporaries to 
their arduous efforts; the only difference is in the in- 
creased magnitude of its advantages. It is still the dis- 
covery of a direct east and west route for the commerce 
of the world. Of all the lines of ocean-sailing steamers 



ii2 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

which focus their routes at Greytown at the present 
time, the United Fruit Company possess the greatest 
advantage of being well equipped with over 50 steamers, 
and stand ready for the advance in trade and rush of 
competition which will ensue upon the opening of the 
Nicaraguan Canal. 

The United Fruit Company are even now (1900) pre- 
paring their schedule and placing their steamers on new 
routes up and down the Central American coast ; the 
new steamer Sunrise, recently placed in commission by 
the company under contract with the government of 
Costa Rica, will carry the mails and passengers from Port 
Limon, Costa Rica, to Bocas del Toro and Colon and 
return, and from Port Limon to Greytown and Bluefields. 
and return. 




UJ 

CD 



CHAPTER XIV 
pro/T) |tf<?u/ Orleans to port Cimor;, QDSta I^iea 



* THE Anselm and Olympia, crack steamships of the 
r United Fruit Company, reach Port Limon, Costa 

t ?> Rica, after a five days' run from New Orleans. 
In a terrific burst and downpour of rain we left New 
Orleans in the month of February, chilled to the marrow 
of our bones by the dampness and the raw wind blowing 
down the Mississippi River. 

TJie city was left behind, lost in mist - and smoke, as 
the steamer followed the winding banks of the river. 
We met occasionally (the sight of all sights to a North- 
ern man) a stern-wheel steamer loaded to the gunwales 
with bales of cotton, laboriously puffing its way to the 
city. The banks of the river swiftly glided by ; at times 
we could almost throw a potato ashore, at other times 
the pilot curved to the middle of the stream, steering 
from point to point. 

Toward sunset the steamer passed out on to the 
Gulf, and to some this was a signal to retire to their 
staterooms and seek the aid of the experienced stewards ; 
others were held captive by the attractions of the cosey 

"3 



ii 4 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

smoking room ; but after a few hours even the hardi- 
est of the travellers sought the seclusion and warmth 
of their comfortable staterooms. The ensuing days were 
marked by calm seas and dazzling sunshine, the steamer 
lazily rising and falling as she pursued her course over a 
summer sea. The familiar (to some) flying-fish now put 
in their appearance, and the days of frost and rain are 
forgotten for the time being, in the study of the beauties 
of nature in her most entrancing effects. The sunsets 
are glorious, luscious in their dreamy beauty, reminding 
one that soon the blazing tropics are to come with 
their stronger colors and contrasts. After three days' 
voyage, the temperature increases ; no more can we bask 
in the sun — rather must we shun it, and seek the shady 
side of the deck. The heat is humid and tends to loung- 
ing and deliberation, salt sea baths drawn direct from 
the sea are now popular, and one seeks to keep down 
the heat of the blood. 

We soon pass down the coast of Nicaragua ; the long 
white beach can be seen extending dimly for miles, no 
mountains or hills to break the low-lying shore ; and 
over a glassy sea, reflecting the rays of a torrid sun, the 
steamer moves with a stealthy gliding motion, suggesting 
caution, for we are approaching Costa Rica with its dan- 
gerous coral reefs. 



FROM NEW ORLEANS TO PORT LIMON 115 

In the far distance, miles yet away, rises a cloud which 
darkens and increases in importance until low down, near 
the line of the silver streak, appears a little island over- 
topped with a white lighthouse. 

" It's Port Limon, sure enough," said the first officer, 
as he passed by leisurely, proceeding to the bridge; "you 




PORT LIMON 



don't need any passport for that republic," was his last 
consoling remark. 

The steamer gradually draws near to the pier, and now 
one can see plainly the portly person of Captain Softcote, 
the English manager of the wharf, and other representa- 
tive citizens, all dressed in white duck suits. The pas- 
sengers (mostly planters and business men returning to 
Costa Rica) hurried to the rail of the ship, and comments 
and sallies of wit were passed from shore to ship, and 
back again, as each known face was discovered: — 

"How many manzanas have you cleaned up lately?" 

"This is a dry day, William." 



n6 THE GOLDEN CARIBBEAN 

"How are the boys on the Old Line?'" 

"Where's the Count? I don't see him." 

" Hullo, Norton, what is exchange to-day ? " 
were the questions and remarks (quite unintelligible to 
the stranger) fired at the appreciative audience, as the 
steamer bumped against the wharf. 

We now find ourselves renewing our acquaintance with 
Port Limon, and realize that under a tropical sun we have 
circumnavigated (in the steamers of the United Fruit, 
Company) the • sea made notable in song and story as 
"The Golden Caribbean." 




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